Research on Mandatory Lane-Changing Behavior in Highway Weaving Sections

Abstract

As the accident-prone sections and bottlenecks, highway weaving sections will become more complicated when it comes to the mixed-traffic environments with connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) and human-driven vehicles (HVs). In order to make CAVs accurately identify the driving behavior of manual-human vehicles to avoid traffic accidents caused by lane changing, it is necessary to analyze the characteristics of the mandatory lane-changing (MCL) process in the weaving area. An analytical MCL method based on the driver’s psychological characteristics is proposed in this study. Firstly, the driver’s MLC pressure concept was proposed by leading in the distance of the off-ramp. Then, the lane-changing intention was quantified by considering the driver’s MLC pressure and tendentiousness. Finally, based on the lane-changing intention and the headway distribution of the target lane, an MLC positions probability density model was proposed to describe the distribution characteristics of the lane-changing position. Through the NGSIM data verification, the lane-changing analysis models can objectively describe the vehicle lane-changing characteristics in the actual scenarios. Compared with the traditional lane-changing model, the proposed models are more interpretable and in line with the driving intention. The results show significant improvements in the lane-changing safe recognition of CAVs in heterogeneous traffic flow (both CAVs and HVs) in the future.

Risk Distribution Characteristics and Optimization of Short Weaving Area for Complex Municipal Interchanges

“…Objectivity, comprehensiveness, and practicality should be considered as principles for risk evaluation indexes [21]. In the weaving area, lane change behavior is random, including when and where to change [22,23]. Vissim simulation cannot detect the lane changing behavior distribution of the weaving area based on sections.…”

A Simulation-Based Comprehensive Analysis for Traffic Efficiency and Spatial Distribution of Risks in Short Weaving Area of Municipal Interchange

“…Yuan et al [11] discussed the impact of weaving length, traffic conditions, and drivers' characteristics on drivers' behavior of forced lane changing from the perspective of safety using a driving simulator. Hao et al [12] explored the proposed models of the vehicle lanechanging process of highway weaving areas from the driver's level and provided the safety for CAV vehicle to change lane recognition in the weaving area. Kim and Park [13] studied the collision-rate distribution in highway weaving segments and buffer-separated high-occupancy lanes.…”

Traffic Flow Sensing Using Wireless Signals

“…The system can adjust the signal timing parameters such as cycle length, green segmentation, offset, etc., improving road network efficiency. The main road's signalized intersection is divided into several subgroups, and the signal is optimized within each subset [9,10]. The model used a mixed-integer linear programming technique to ensure an optimal global solution and got the ideal trunk green wave belt.…”