Abstract
This study evaluated effects of recommending lane-changing from an over-taking lane to an adjacent lane by LED message signs on increasing traffic capacity at a sag of a motorway as a result of restricting propagation and amplification of deceleration waves by dividing vehicle platoons. The occurrence of congestion was recorded for four times by 11 video cameras. Trajectory data of individual vehicles at every 1/30 second along the observation section of approximately 1.2km were estimated based on the video image data. 177 samples of real lane-changing behavior data just before commencing the traffic congestion were extracted from the trajectory data. A microscopic lane-changing model with such as lead/lag gaps and their interaction terms as independent variables were identified based on the sample data. The model achieved approximately 83% of hitting ratio. A possibility that a platoon could be divided without causing congestion in the adjacent lane was shown by applying the model to Monte Carlo simulation if 30% of drivers intended to change their lanes.
