Impact of counteracting vehicles on the characteristics of a smart city transport system

TL;DR

This paper models how covert counteracting vehicles can influence smart city traffic systems, especially at optimal traffic densities, using a stochastic cellular automata simulation based on established traffic rules.

Contribution

It introduces a novel simulation model incorporating covert counteracting vehicles and compares different behavioral rules to assess their impact on traffic flow.

Findings

Counteracting vehicles significantly affect traffic flow at medium densities.

Their influence is negligible in free-flow or jam conditions.

Different behavioral rules have varying effects on traffic dynamics.

Abstract

The development of smart city transport systems, including self-driving cars, leads to an increase in the threat of hostile interference in the processes of vehicle control. This interference may disrupt the normal functioning of the transport system, and, if is performed covertly, the system can be negatively affected for a long period of time. This paper develops a simulation stochastic cellular automata model of traffic on a circular two-lane road based on the Sakai-Nishinari-Fukui-Schadschneider (S-NFS) rules. In the presented model, in addition to ordinary vehicles, there are covertly counteracting vehicles; their task is to reduce the quantity indicators (such as traffic flux) of the transport system using special rules of behavior. Three such rules are considered and compared: two lane-changing rules and one slow-down rule. It is shown that such counteracting vehicles can affect the traffic flow, mainly in the region of the maximum of the fundamental diagram, that is, at average values of the vehicle density. In free-flowing traffic or in a traffic jam, the influence of the counteracting vehicle is negligible regardless of its rules of behavior.