Parameters Influencing the Subjective Evaluation of Traffic Stream by Drivers

Abstract

Congestions in peak hours is a phenomenon which is faced by many cities in the world. One of the goals of Smart City concept is to mitigate them and thus increase the level of driving comfort. The goal of this study was to determine the most significant parameters and understand which aspects are important for driving comfort. In the performed experiment, drivers with different socio-demographic characteristics and different driving experience observed the peak-hour and off-peak traffic How from drivers’ perspective and provided a subjective evaluation of driving comfort. The evaluation was then confronted to the observed traffic parameters which were either observed at place, or obtained from traffic detectors at the time when videos were recorded. It was found that immediate presence of heavy vehicles, light conditions or road geometry are parameters which can affect the level of comfort perceived by drivers just as instantaneous speed does. The findings from this study could improve the determination of traffic Level of Service and contribute to better understanding of this parameter by drivers.