| Drivers' reaction and behavior with respect to the vehicle immediately behind them can affect the overall efficiency of the transportation system. Suppose one considers the phrase "driving friendly" to mean driving in a friendly manner with respect to surrounding vehicles. Does driving friendly lead to greater efficiency? This thesis begins to answer this question by using car-leading data collected from instrumented vehicles traveling on Interstate 70 in Missouri. Car-leading behavior refers to the behavior of the leading vehicle in the passing lane during the passing maneuver of the trailing vehicle. Instrumentation is developed for capturing car-leading behavior using in-vehicle video, speed radar, and GPS. Field data shows that on the average, a mean delay of 7.75 seconds is experienced per car-leading maneuver. By using the method of cross-classification, it is estimated that approximately 76 vehicle-hours of delay per day are caused by inefficient car-leading behavior on I-70 if certain assumptions are made. The answer then to the aforementioned question is yes. The distribution of delays calculated supports the fact that efficient car-leading behavior can reduce the overall delay experienced by vehicles on freeways. However more data is required to give a more complete answer to the follow up question, "By how much?"... |
