Lane Choice Behavior at Toll Plaza Under Mixed Traffic Conditions Using TODIM Method: A Case Study

Abstract

The main objective of the present study is to prepare an algorithm for the choice of lane causing minimum delay based on drivers’ perception using a Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) method. The TODIM (Portuguese acronym for Interactive Multi-Criteria Decision-Making) is based on the prospect theory. The effect of human behavior on lane choice at toll plaza is studied using the user perception survey. The data required is collected by pictorial survey at the toll plaza, nearby petrol pumps, and hotels. The pictorial survey includes the scenarios to understand the lane choice based on the user preferences about the vehicle composition, number of vehicles in queue, and lane changes. In the case of toll plazas, toll lanes are the alternatives, and vehicle composition of toll lanes, number of vehicles in the queue, and number of lane changes required to choose the target lane are all different criteria. A vehicle entering the toll area has to take care of all the available conditions and select an alternative to minimize the delay. The TODIM method requires the weightage matrix of the criteria, which is obtained using the Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP). It is seen that the number of vehicles in the queue has the highest weightage followed by the proportion of heavy vehicles. These are the prime factors affecting the lane choice behavior at the toll plaza. The algorithm can be further used to predict the best alternative for the emerging vehicle, which will help to minimize its delay.