Noise-induced Stop-and-Go Dynamics

Abstract

Stop-and-go waves are commonly observed in traffic and pedestrian flows. In traffic theory they are described by phase transitions of metastable models. The self-organization phenomenon occurs due to inertia mechanisms but requires fine tuning of the parameters. Here, a novel explanation for stop-and-go waves based on stochastic effects is presented for pedestrian dynamics. We show that the introduction of specific coloured noises in a stable microscopic model allows to describe realistic pedestrian stop-and-go behaviour without requirement of metastability and phase transition. We compare simulation results of the stochastic model to real pedestrian trajectories and discuss plausible values for the model's parameters.

arXiv comment8 pages, 5 figures; Traffic and Granular Flow 2017 Conference (TGF'17)