Noise-induced instability of uniform flow in single-file traffic systems
Abstract
Stop-and-go waves in vehicular traffic are commonly explained as a linear collective instability induced by, eg response delays. We explore an alternative mechanism that more faithfully mirrors oscillation formation in dense single-file traffic. The fluctuating drivers' responses, modeled by noise, play a key role in this model; as noise is increased, the base (uniform) flow abruptly switches to stop-and-go dynamics despite its unconditional linear stability. The stop-and-go motion persists only as long as noise is present. We rationalize the instability mechanism in quantitative terms by breaking down the noise into oscillatory driving terms that can be studied separately. Finally, we hint at an analogy with Kapitza's inverted pendulum.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Traffic control and management
Network Traffic and Congestion Control
Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs)
Publication details
- Journal / source
- PNAS Nexus
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Volume
- 5
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- pgag101–pgag101
- Publication date
- 1 April 2026
- Language
- EN