The time series pattern of traffic flow on an accident section

Abstract

The time series pattern of traffic flow on the accident section is investigated in this paper. The mean value, standard deviation, Hurst exponent, and cycle length of traffic flow on the accident section make clear that the traffic flow shows long-term correlation and regular pattern as well as obvious fluctuation in a short stage, and the cycling period is about 40 min. The time series of traffic flow on the accident section is converted into a complex network by using the visibility algorithm. It can be inferred from the topological features of the constructed complex network that the complex network is scale-free, small-world, and hierarchically constructed, verifying that the time series displays fractal characteristics and a tight connection exists among the time series of driver behaviors. Otherwise, there are some extreme relative velocities in the original traffic flow, and these faster relative velocities appearance in the form of group.