On the Impact of Moving Light Guidance System on Car-following Behavior Using All Vehicle Trajectory Data

Abstract

The Moving Light Guidance System (MLGS) is used to prevent traffic congestion on freeways, but its microscopic impact on car-following behavior is not well understood. In this study, we quantitatively evaluate the variable characteristics of relative speed and parameters of car-following behavior during MLGS operations, focusing on speed differences between the MLGS lighting speed and vehicle speed. We use the all vehicle trajectory data, recording the position and speed of each vehicle every 0.1 seconds, and the MLGS operational history data, recording the lighting speed of the MLGS for each block. The results show that when the lighting speed of the MLGS is 0–5 km/h faster than the vehicle speed in the congestion section, the relative speed with the lead vehicle decreases, leading to more appropriate speed adjustments based on the distance between vehicles. Additionally, downstream of the bottleneck, there is no significant difference in car-following behavior with respect to relative speed. Therefore, the results suggest that MLGS improves speed adjustment relative to the lead vehicle when the MLGS lighting speed is operated slightly higher than the vehicle speed in the congestion sections.