Bifurcation analysis of a modified continuum traffic flow model considering driver’s reaction time and distance

A modified continuum traffic flow model is established in this paper based on an extended car-following model considering driver’s reaction time and distance. The linear stability of the model and the Korteweg–de Vries (KdV) equation describing the density wave of traffic flow in the metastable region are obtained. In the new model, the relaxation term and the dissipation term exist at the same time, thus the type and stability of equilibrium solution of the model can be analyzed on the phase plane. Based on the equilibrium point, the bifurcation analysis of the model is carried out, and the existence of Hopf bifurcation and saddle-node bifurcation is proved. Numerical simulations show that the model can describe the complex nonlinear dynamic phenomena observed in freeway traffic, such as local cluster effect. Various bifurcations of the model, such as Hopf bifurcation, saddle-node bifurcation, Limit Point bifurcation of cycles, Cusp bifurcation and Bogdanov–Takens bifurcation, are also obtained by numerical simulations, and the traffic behaviors of some bifurcations are studied. The results show that the numerical solution is consistent with the analytical solution. Consequently, some nonlinear traffic phenomena can be analyzed and predicted from the perspective of global stability.