Micro-to-macro derivation and stability analysis of an Aw-Rascle-Zhang-type model with driver-dependent acceleration

Abstract

We introduce a new traffic flow model. The main idea is to describe acceleration effects in the Aw-Rascle-Zhang model through an additional driver-dependent equation, thereby allowing individual driver characteristics to evolve dynamically rather than being prescribed solely by the traffic density. The resulting system provides a hyperbolic description of traffic dynamics and admits an explicit analysis of its characteristic structure, Riemann problem, and entropy properties. To investigate the stability of the proposed model, we perform a Chapman-Enskog expansion up to second order and derive the corresponding diffusive and higher-order corrections. This analysis reveals how the stability properties depend on the underlying velocity and pressure functions. Several examples are presented to illustrate the theoretical results.