Social Dilemma in a Heterogeneous Traffic Flow Consisting of Personal and Public Transport

This paper proposes a computer simulation model of a heterogeneous traffic flow which consists of personal and public transport i.e., buses. The road topology is multi-lane and allows a personal vehicle to change lanes. The time evolution of the system is based on Nagel-Schreckenberg cellular automata model. This work illustrates the impact of the location of bus stops on bus traffic characteristics. The new definition of free flow for buses is given. Simulations have shown that the incorporation of buses in a mixed traffic flow has a positive impact on traffic flow. An increase in the number of buses leads to an increase in the average speed of personal cars. However, the average speed of all vehicles has a maximum at a certain ratio between passengers of buses and personal cars. Since the position of this maximum is not the same as for individual types of agents (buses or personal vehicles) this allows one to introduce the social dilemma.