Understanding the dynamics of heavy vehicle interactions in car-following

Abstract

Heavy vehicles and passenger cars differ in their maneuverability and acceleration capabilities. Heavy vehicles thus influence other traffic in a different manner than passenger vehicles, causing different levels of traffic instability. Increasing number and proportion of heavy vehicles in the traffic stream may result in quite different traffic flow characteristics. Over the last five decades many studies have investigated passenger car drivers' car-following behavior. However, the existence of heavy vehicles in the traffic stream has not received the same attention. This paper investigates the different car-following behavior of drivers in congested heterogeneous traffic conditions. It spe..