Modeling Motorway Driving Behavior

Microscopic traffic simulation constitutes a useful method for predicting the effects of new transport telematic systems on road traffic. In such a simulation, the driver model is a key element describing the dynamic individual driving behavior in relation to the vehicle, the road environment, and other traffic participants. The driver model presented in this paper was developed partly on the basis of literature and partly on the author’s own experimental research with a driving simulator and an instrumented vehicle. The driver model includes free driving (speed control), car following (distance control), and lane-change behavior. It interacts with a vehicle model at a detailed level (pedals and gear status). The driver model uses the vehicle controls with the aim to reach or maintain the individual, situation-dependent desired speed or following distance. The model includes aspects such as reaction time, perception thresholds for speed differences, and comfort levels for accelerating and decelerating. Since the traffic simulation model was designed to study the effects of systems such as adaptive cruise control (ACC), the driver model also includes a component that describes the driver’s interaction with ACC. In addition to a description of the model and its background, an illustration of the model’s application is given in a case study on ACC, where the ACC’s reference speed was influenced externally by a modeled beacon system. In conditions with high traffic volumes, the beacon system influenced the traffic upstream to try to create a homogeneous, steady traffic flow.