Modeling and analysis of mixed flow of cars and powered two wheeelers

In modern cities, a gradual increase of motorcycles and other types of Powered Two-Wheelers (PTW) are observed as an answer to long commuting in traffic jams and complex urban navigation. Such increasing penetration of PTW creates mixed traffic flow conditions with unique characteristics that are not well understood. Unlike cars, PTWs filter between cars, have unique dynamics, and do not respect lanes discipline, therefore requiring a different modeling approach than traditional ’Passenger Car Equivalent’ or ’Follow the Leader’. Instead, this work proposes to model the flow of PTWs similarly to a fluid in a porous medium, where PTWs ’percolate’ between cars as function of the gap between them. Our contributions are as follows: (I) a characterization of the distribution of the gap between vehicles by the densities of PTWs and cars; (II) a definition of the equilibrium speed of each class as a function of the densities of PTWs and cars; (III) an impact analysis of the gradual penetration of PTWs on cars and on heterogeneous traffic flow characteristics. keyword Multiclass traffic flow model; Motorcycle; PTW; Porous flow; Traffic impacts analysis Gashaw, Goatin, Härri 2