A time-discrete harmonic oscillator model of human car-following

Abstract

A time-discrete stochastic harmonic oscillator is presented as a model of human car-following behaviour. This describes especially the non-continuous control of a human driver – acceleration changes from time to time at so called action-points and is kept constant in between. Analytical results can be derived which allow to classify the different types of motion possible within this approach. These results show that with weaker control by the human, unstable behaviour of the oscillator becomes more likely. This is in line with common understanding about the causes of accidents. Finally, since even the stochastic behaviour of this model is in parts analytically tractable, the width of the speed-difference and distance fluctuations can be expressed as function of the model’s parameter. This allows a fresh view on empirical car-following data and the identification of parameters from real data in the context of the theory presented here.