Integrated simulation model for driver behaviour using system dynamics

Microscopic traffic simulation programs are useful tools to provide cost-effective, objective, and flexible approach for the evaluation of emerging advanced technologies, such as Intelligent Transportation Systems. These programs provide a dynamic representation of individual vehicles on road networks. These programs are usually composed of several models including a representation of roadway geometry, vehicle routing, origin-destination information, lane changing, and car-following models. This thesis contributes to the development of two models of a microscopic traffic simulation program. These two models are the car-following model and the discretionary lane change model. Car-following models describe the process by which drivers follow each other in the traffic stream. Discretionary lane change models on the other hand describe the driver behaviour when drivers make a lane change to improve perceived driving conditions.; This thesis describes characteristics of a number of existing car-following and discretionary lane change models, and identifies their assumptions that tend to restrict their ability in explaining and estimating driver behaviour in actual traffic situations. A new car-following and a new discretionary lane change model are proposed that address many of limitations of the existing models.; The car-following model developed in this thesis assumes that drivers adjust their speed based on the current spacing and rate of change in current spacing to the next downstream vehicle. The proposed car-following model, unlike many existing car-following models, does not make unrealistic assumptions about drivers' ability to ascertain exactly the absolute speed and/or acceleration/deceleration rate of the downstream vehicles. In determining the acceleration/deceleration rate of the following vehicle, the proposed model considers a more extensive view of downstream traffic (i.e., two downstream lead vehicles). The proposed car-following model also takes into account the changes in response time of the following vehicle driver due to the brake light status and position of the lead vehicles.; The discretionary lane change model developed in this thesis consists of two components; the desire model and the gap-acceptance model. The desire model assumes that a driver's decision for making a discretionary lane change depends on speed benefit accumulated over time rather than instantaneous speed benefit over a small simulation interval, dt. The gap-acceptance model is a binary logit model that calculates the probability of initiating a lane change manoeuvre based on gap-acceptance conditions in the adjacent lane.; The proposed car-following and discretionary lane change models are calibrated and validated using field data obtained from an arterial roadway. The validation results of the proposed models are encouraging and demonstrate the effectiveness of the modelling framework.