Modeling the lane-changing behavior of non-motorized vehicles on road segments via social force model

Abstract

Using traffic marking to separate non-motorized lane from the adjacent motorized lane is a common traffic design method for urban road segments. With the increase in non-motorized vehicle flow, illegal lane-changing occurs frequently, which leads to more serious conflict among road users. The study of the behavior characteristics of non-motorized illegal lane-changing on road segments, and establishing a microscopic simulation model can be used as a theoretical support and analysis tool for the design of non-motorized lane. This paper takes non-motorized vehicles as the research object to study lane-changing behavior characteristics. Then, the K-means clustering algorithm is used to classify riding styles into three types: risker, opportunist, and prudent. The micro-behavioral characteristics of riders with different riding styles are analyzed. Next, a three-layer model framework composed of perceptual, decision-making, and social force model is established. The logit model is used in the decision-making model to predict the probability of non-motorized vehicles crossing the line. Different riding styles are considered in the social force, and a virtual boundary force is introduced to describe lane-changing behavior. Subsequently, parameters are calibrated and the model is validated in various ways. Finally, the proposed model is used to conduct simulation experiments to explore the renovation scheme of the non-motorized lane. The results show that the proposed model can reproduce the traffic operation in the real scenario.