Exploring HDV Driver–CAV Interaction in Mixed Traffic: A Two-Step Method Integrating Latent Profile Analysis and Multinomial Logit Model

Abstract

Human-driven vehicles (HDVs) will share the road with connected autonomous vehicles (CAVs) in the near future. Accordingly, the investigation of the interactive behavior of HDV drivers toward CAVs is becoming critical. In this study, a questionnaire survey was first conducted. The heterogenous clusters of HDV drivers were revealed through the latent profile analysis based on the collected dataset, with the focus on their trust and familiarity with CAVs, their attitudes towards sharing the road with CAVs, and their risk perception and perceived behavior control when they faced the CAVs. Subsequently, the correlation between the respective latent cluster and several socio-demographic factors was understood based on the multinomial logistic regression model, and the choice behavior of each cluster in different interactive driving scenarios was revealed. Three vital findings were reported. (1) Three profile clusters of HDV drivers (i.e., negative individuals, neutral individuals, and positive individuals) were revealed. (2) The drivers of a low/middle income and with a long driving experience were more likely to be negative individuals, whereas the CAV experience can make drivers feel positive towards CAVs. (3) Negative individuals might give up on changing lanes when a CAV platoon driving was noticed in the target lanes; in addition, they might raise more rigorous requirements for vehicle spacing in the lane-changing process when finding CAVs driving in the target lanes. To be specific, negative and neutral individuals preferred driving in front of the CAV platoons. The findings can provide references for developing effective management measures or CAV control strategies for transportation systems.