Chaos Characteristics of Expressway Traffic Flow

Abstract

An improved algorithm for largest Lyapunov exponent is put forward for rapid identification of chaos in traffic flow based on Zuo Binwu’s algorithm. The chaos of expressway traffic flow is studied with the improved algorithm and the power spectrum. The power spectrums of the time series of traffic flow are illustrated. Through the analysis of the power spectrum of the headway, it is clear that there are variations of noise and wide apices. The largest Lyapunov exponents of the time series of traffic flow are computed and used to identify the chaos in the expressway traffic flow. The results prove that chaos in the expressway traffic flow exists indeed. The results are analyzed. Finally, useful conclusion of the study and application for traffic flow is presented.