Modeling Lane Change Behavior on a Highway with a High Occupancy Vehicle Lane with Continuous Access and Egress

High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes are expected to mitigate traffic congestion by reducing the use of single-occupancy vehicles. However, implementing HOV lanes generates dynamic interactions between HOV lanes and general purpose lanes and inconsistent findings have been reported regarding the impact of HOV lanes on traffic operations. This paper puts forward a model for the lane change behavior on highways with HOV lanes for eligible and ineligible vehicles. The model formulates lane change desire based on lane change incentives, representing both mandatory and discretionary lane changes in relation to HOV lanes. Speed gain and drivers’ preference on HOV lanes are assumed as incentives for using HOV lanes. The speed gain incentive is modeled using the speed difference between the current lane and adjacent lanes while the drivers’ preference is modeled as a directional bias toward the HOV lane. The authors apply the model in the SR99 corridor in California with one HOV lane, and calibrate the model against loop detector data. The results show that the proposed model reproduces lane change behavior during the transition between deactivation and activation of the HOV lane, as well as section-specific fundamental diagrams and congestion pattern at the network level. In addition, the authors offer an explicit explanation on lane change behavior that leads to the friction effect of HOV lanes.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AHB35 Standing Committee on Managed Lanes.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Xiao, Lin
  • Wang, Meng
  • Schakel, Wouter J
  • Shladover, Steven E
  • van Arem, Bart
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 96th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2017-1-8 to 2017-1-12
• Date: 2017

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 16p
• Monograph Title: TRB 96th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Behavior; Drivers; High occupancy vehicle lanes; Lane changing; Loop detectors; Traffic congestion; Traffic flow; Traffic speed
• Geographic Terms: California
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01628798
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 17-05373
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Mar 13 2017 9:12AM