Modeling the Lane-Changing Execution of Multiclass Vehicles Under Heavy Traffic Conditions

In general, existing lane-changing behavior models focus on drivers' lane-changing decisions and neglect lane-changing execution. However, a lane-changing maneuver is likely to require several seconds for execution. Excluding lane-changing execution may have a significant effect on estimated traffic flow characteristics, particularly under heavy traffic conditions (level of service E). Acceleration and deceleration behaviors of heavy vehicle and passenger car drivers during the execution of a lane-changing maneuver are compared and contrasted. In addition, separate acceleration and deceleration models are developed for heavy vehicles and passenger cars during the lane change. The vehicle trajectory data set used in this research reflects heavy traffic conditions. Analysis of heavy vehicle drivers' lane-changing execution reveals that drivers maintained an almost constant speed during the maneuver; this suggests that they did not accelerate or decelerate to adjust their speeds according to the speed of surrounding traffic in the target lane. However, passenger car drivers do accelerate to adjust their speeds according to the speeds of the lead and lag vehicles in the target lane. The results highlight differences in the behavior of heavy vehicle and passenger car drivers during lane-changing execution.