This paper studies the effect of adaptive cruise control （ACC） system on traffic flow by using simulations. The multiple headway and velocity difference （MHVD） model is used to depict the motion of ACC vehicles, and the simulation results are compared with the optimal velocity （OV） model which is used to depict the motion of manual vehicles. Compared the cases between the manual and the ACC vehicle flow, the fundamental diagram can be classified into four regions： I, II, III, IV. In low and high density the flux of the two models is the same; in region II the free flow region of the MHVD model is enlarged, and the flux of the MHVD model is larger than that of the OV model; in region III serious jams occur in the OV model while the ACC system suppresses the jams in the MHVD model and the traffic flow is in order, but the flux of the OV model is larger than that of the MHVD model. Similar phenomena also appeared in mixed traffic flow which consists of manual and ACC vehicles. The results indicate that ACC vehicles have significant effect on traffic flow. The improvement induced by ACC vehicles decreases with the increasing proportion of ACC vehicles.
