CAREER: Dynamic State Transitions in Vehicular Traffic and the Effects of Driver Behavior

这个教师早期职业发展（CAREER）计划奖的目的是调查驾驶员行为的影响，如汽车跟随和变道，对交通状态转换（即，交通状况（如速度）的变化。本研究的重点是高速公路阻塞点附近的过渡（即，瓶颈）、汇合点和队列末端（车辆遇到拥堵的地方）。这些区域周围的过渡可能会导致无序的交通状况，如走走停停的驾驶，由于速度的急剧变化和频繁的变道机动。本研究包含四个主要任务：（i）收集新的个体车辆数据，（ii）分析总体特征（例如交通流量、密度和速度的变化），（iii）分析驾驶员行为并将其与一般特征联系起来，以及（iv）扩展/开发能够再现所观察到的过渡现象的驾驶员行为模型。如果成功，该研究将揭示转变的物理机制;即，个体驾驶员行为（例如，车辆跟随、车道变换）控制流量、密度和速度在时间和空间上的变化。 了解这些机制对流动性和安全具有重要影响。围绕高速公路瓶颈的过渡可以确定瓶颈吞吐量，从而确定高速公路网络上的延误。此外，由于速度的突然变化和频繁的变道操纵，过渡区域中的车辆更容易发生碰撞。因此，这项研究的结果将有可能推进交通控制策略，以更有效地管理拥堵，提高安全性。教育和外联活动包括开发一个项目网站、一个收集探测数据的智能手机应用程序、用于实际学习数据分析方法和建模的网络模块。利用这些手段，该项目将吸引本科生和研究生，STEM（科学，技术，工程和数学）高中教师长期接触高中生，其他学科的研究人员和行业利益相关者。

The objective of this Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) program award is to investigate the effects of driver behaviors, such as car-following and lane-changing, on traffic state transitions (i.e., changes in traffic conditions such as speed). This research focuses on transitions near freeway choke points (i.e., bottlenecks), merges, and ends of queues (where vehicles encounter congestion). Transitions around these regions can lead to disorderly traffic conditions, such as stop-and-go driving, due to sharp changes in speed and frequent lane-changing maneuvers. This research consists of four primary tasks of (i) collecting new individual vehicle data, (ii) analyzing general features (e.g. changes in traffic flow, density, and speed) of traffic transitions, (iii) analyzing driver behaviors and linking them to the general features, and (iv) extending/developing models of driver behaviors capable of reproducing the observed transition phenomena.If successful, this research will uncover the physical mechanisms of transitions; i.e., how individual driver behaviors (e.g., car-following, lane-changing) govern changes in flow, density, and speed in time and space. Understanding these mechanisms has important implications for mobility and safety. Transitions around freeway bottlenecks can determine bottleneck throughput and hence the delays on freeway networks. Further, vehicles in transition regions are more prone to crashes due to sudden changes in speed and frequent lane-changing maneuvers. Therefore, the results from this research will potentially advance traffic control strategies to manage congestion more effectively and improve safety. Educational and outreach activities involve the development of a project website, a smart-phone application to collect probe data, web-based modules for hands-on learning of data analysis methods and modeling. Using these means, this project will engage undergraduate and graduate students, STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) high school teachers to reach out to high-school students in the long term, researchers in other disciplines, and industry stakeholders.