01126905

Component

This study investigates the explanatory factors of heavy vehicle drivers’ lane changing decisions through a detailed vehicle trajectory data analysis collected at two freeway sites. Lane changing maneuver has major impacts on traffic flow characteristics. Despite the increasing number of heavy vehicles on freeways, previous lane changing studies are predominantly associated with passenger cars. Lane changing decision can be divided into two stages: the motivation to change lanes and the selection of the target lane. To investigate the factors which influence heavy vehicle driver lane changing decisions, 42 heavy vehicle lane changes are analyzed. Heavy vehicles are classified into heavy trucks and light trucks based on heavy vehicles length. The results show that the front vehicle speed is mainly smaller than the subject vehicle (heavy vehicle) speed, and the rear speed is mainly greater than the subject vehicle speed. The speed difference between the lead and the lag vehicles in the target lane is generally greater than the corresponding values in the current lane and the alternative lane. It is observed that either the lead vehicle speed in the alternative lane is smaller than the subject vehicle speed or both the lead and the lag vehicles speeds in the alternative lane are greater than the subject vehicle speed.

01120148

09-1720

English

2009

Transportation Research Board 88th Annual Meeting

DVD

Decision making; Drivers; Heavy vehicles; Highway vehicle operators; Lane changing; Operations; Traffic flow; Vehicle mix; Vehicle trajectories

Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2009 Paper #09-1720

TRIS, TRB

Jan 30 2009 5:58PM