Cellular automata for traffic flow simulation with safety embedded notions

Abstract

In this paper a cellular automata model for one-lane traffic flow is presented. A new set of rules is proposed to better capture driver reactions to traffic that are intended to preserve safety on the highway. As a result, drivers behavior is derived from an analysis that determines the most appropriate action for a vehicle based on the distance from the vehicle ahead of it and the velocities of the two neighbor vehicles. The model preserves simplicity of CA rules and at the same time makes the results closer to real highway behavior. Simulation results exhibit the three states observed in real traffic flow: Free-flow states, synchronized states, and stop-and-go states.