Microscopic traffic behaviour modelling and simulation for lane-blocking arterial incidents

Abstract

Incident-induced driver behaviour modelling is essential to analyse non-recurrent traffic congestion problems. However, such research is inadequate in such areas as traffic flow prediction, traffic simulation and incident management. This article presents microscopic lane traffic models to characterise incident-induced driver behaviour including car following and lane changing conducted under conditions of lane-blocking arterial incidents. To demonstrate the validity of the proposed models, a specific microscopic traffic simulation program embedded with the proposed incident-induced lane traffic behaviour models is tested by comparing simulation data with video-based incident data collected from five incident events. Preliminary test results indicate that the proposed microscopic traffic behaviour models permit not only reproducing incident-induced traffic behaviour but also characterising incident effects on lane traffic phenomena.