Bifurcation analysis method of nonlinear traffic phenomena

A new bifurcation analysis method for analyzing and predicting the complex nonlinear traffic phenomena based on the macroscopic traffic flow model is presented in this paper. This method makes use of variable substitution to transform a traditional traffic flow model into a new model which is suitable for the stability analysis. Although the substitution seems to be simple, it can extend the range of the variable to infinity and build a relationship between the traffic congestion and the unstable system in the phase plane. So the problem of traffic flow could be converted into that of system stability. The analysis identifies the types and stabilities of the equilibrium solutions of the new model and gives the overall distribution structure of the nearby equilibrium solutions in the phase plane. Then we deduce the existence conditions of the models Hopf bifurcation and saddle-node bifurcation and find some bifurcations such as Hopf bifurcation, saddle-node bifurcation, Limit Point bifurcation of cycles and Bogdanov–Takens bifurcation. Furthermore, the Hopf bifurcation and saddle-node bifurcation are selected as the starting point of density temporal evolution and it will be helpful for improving our understanding of stop-and-go wave and local cluster effects observed in the free-way traffic.