On a multilane roadway, systematic lane changes can seriously disrupt traffic flow and cause capacity reductions. Therefore it is important to understand the characteristics of lane-changing traffic flow. In a previous study, a new variable, lane-changing intensity, was theoretically derived by doubling the contribution to the total density of a lane-changing vehicle during its lane-changing period, and an intensity–density relation was incorporated into the fundamental diagram to capture such bottleneck effects at the aggregate level. In this study, a new interpretation of lane-changing intensity is proposed by following Edie's definition of traffic density. Detailed studies of macroscopic characteristics of lane-changing traffic with 75 min of vehicle trajectories collected for a freeway section on I-80 near San Francisco, California, by FHWA's next-generation simulation project are presented. About 10% misindentified lane changes are excluded. For different time intervals, cell sizes, and locations, the well-definedness of the lane-changing intensity variable and the intensity–density relation are verified.


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    Title :

    Macroscopic Characteristics of Lane-Changing Traffic


    Additional title:

    Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board


    Contributors:


    Publication date :

    2010-01-01




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English



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