Hardware and software for collecting microscopic trajectory data on naturalistic driving behavior

 

Deepak Shrestha, David J. Lovell, and Yorghos Tripodis

 

 

Journal of Intelligent Transportation Systems, vol. 21(3), pp. 202-213


ABSTRACT


This paper presents a method to collect naturalistic microscopic longitudinal vehicle trajectory data with a modest budget. The drivers studied are not aware that they are participating in an experiment; hence one can collect naturalistic driving behavior. This paper presents the hardware and software developed, and we include a detailed example of a particular case study that was conducted with data collected from the system.  The case study examines drivers’ willingness to accept very short headways, and casts that behavior in light of their subsequent lane-changing decisions. The data show a statistically defensible connection between these behaviors. These phenomena are not new, but highlight the importance of the data quality and of observing naturalistic driving behavior, and this paper demonstrates a method to calibrate specific parameters related to the behavior.