Effect of changing driving conditions on driver behavior towards design of a safe and efficient traffic system.

Details

• Creators:
  Aghazadeh, Fereydoun ; Laura Hughes Ikuma, ; Sherif Ishak,
• Corporate Creators:
  Louisiana State University. Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering ; Gulf Coast Center for Evacuation and Transportation Resiliency
• Corporate Contributors:
  United States. Dept. of Transportation. Research and Innovative Technology Administration ; Southwest Region University Transportation Center (U.S.)
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Work zone traffic control
  • Traffic signs
  • Traffic density
  • Behavior
  • Simulation
  • Merging traffic
  • Merging area
  • Braking
  • Workload
• Publication/ Report Number:
  SWUTC/13/600451-00103-1
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Corporate Publisher:
  Texas A&M Transportation Institute
• Abstract:
  This simulation-based study explores the effects of different work zone configurations, varying distances ; between traffic signs, traffic density and individual differences on drivers’ behavior. Conventional Lane ; Merge (CLM) and Joint Lane Merge (JLM) were modeled in a driving simulator and thirty participants ; (seven female and 23 male students) navigated through the two configurations with two levels of traffic ; density and in three different conditions: a) standard sign distance, b) 25% reduction, and c) 25% increase ; in the distance between traffic signs in the advance warning zone. Information regarding travel time, speed, ; braking force and location of merge was collected through the simulator. Self-reported measures of mental ; demand, physical demand, temporal demand, performance, effort, frustration and total workload were ; recorded from all participants by using the NASA TLX. The results show that, on average, driving through ; the JLM took 18.8% longer than the CLM. Moreover, no significant difference in speed was found ; between the two merge configurations. However, the percent maximum braking force was34% lower in the ; JLM configuration. The comparison of two merge configurations with respect to the location of changing ; lanes suggest that overall, the JLM configuration encourages drivers to remain in the closed lane longer. ; The analysis of self-reported workload ratings shows that participants reported 15.3% lower total workload ; and 18.8% higher performance when driving through the JLM. Moreover, mental demand, temporal ; demand, effort and frustration were lower in JLM by 16.4%, 23.4%, 13.7% and 28%, respectively. In terms ; of self-reported workload, the JLM is more conducive to driving. In conclusion, the JLM outperforms the ; CLM.
  More +
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  DTRT12-G-UTC06
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/28228/dot_28228_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.83 MB]
• Collection(s):
  University Transportation Centers ; US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:8a39df6b7fc9871813146cfe31fd364a11bcb967e04435d28f2650507b70fc4d