01661037

Component

In this paper, the authors pose the hypothesis that lateral interactions between vehicles help explain the phenomenon of capacity drop as well as lateral friction. In particular, the authors propose that distance keeping by drivers in order to avoid collisions plays a role in the genesis of both phenomena. To test the theory, the authors propose a parsimonious, two-dimensional microscopic car-following model. The authors use it in simulation experiments in order to qualitatively reproduce said phenomena. They are reproduced as an indirect consequence of the model’s formulation (in contrast to the inclusion in an existing model of ad-hoc rules, conceived to directly achieve the effect), thus shedding light over their real causes. Both phenomena are reproduced with the help of the proposed model, suggesting a link between two-dimensional distance keeping and the genesis of those. Understanding the lateral position of human traffic is key to make autonomous driving algorithms that are both efficient and human-friendly at the same time

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AHB45 Standing Committee on Traffic Flow Theory and Characteristics.

18-06241

English

17p

2018

Transportation Research Board 97th Annual Meeting

Digital/other

Figures; References; Tables

Car following; Highway capacity; Microscopic traffic flow; Social factors; Traffic flow theory; Traffic models

Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Vehicles and Equipment

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2018 Paper #18-06241

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Jan 8 2018 11:36AM