A new car-following model considering drivers' heterogeneity of the disturbance risk appetite

Based on the optimal velocity model, with the consideration of the effect of drivers' heterogeneity of the disturbance risk appetite, an extended model is proposed. The linear stable judging condition is obtained for the extended model by its stability analysis, which shows the smaller the ratio of the coefficient of the disturbance risk appetite for the former car driver to that for the following-car driver, the larger the stability area of the extended model is. The kink-antikink density wave is attained in an unstable area of the model by nonlinear analysis. Simulation results also show that the smaller the ratio of the coefficient of the disturbance risk appetite for the former car driver to that for the following-car driver, the better it is for the initial traffic flow to inhibit the disturbance propagation, hinder the formation of traffic jams and restore homeostasis. This paper provides a viable idea to reduce traffic congestion, for example, by forming convoys traveling in order from small to big according to the relative size of drivers' coefficients of the disturbance risk appetite.