MODELING GAP CHOICE BEHAVIOR AT URBAN EXPRESSWAY MERGING SECTIONS

抄録

This paper proposes an approach to model the gap choice behavior of merging vehicles under various traffic flow conditions at urban expressway merging sections in Nagoya, Japan. The gap choice is classified into three patterns denoted direct, yield and chase merging. Empirical analysis shows that mainline traffic conditions significantly affect the proportion of gap choice. In addition, yield and chase choices result in further merging position compared to direct one. This fact is necessary to be considered in order to design the acceleration lane to meet driver behavior under relevant operational traffic flow conditions. TTC is adopted as an index to determine the threshold of choosing a merging pattern. The results show that the thresholds of choosing direct/yield or chase, continue to chase or not and direct or yield are 4.3, 3.2 and 5.4 seconds, respectively. The gap choice behavior is modeled by applying binary logit model. The results reveal that relative speed and space gap, traffic conditions, acceleration lane length, and remaining distance significantly affect the gap choice behavior of merging drivers.