Specification of Drivers’ Behavior in Partially Automated Vehicles for Microscopic Simulation Models

The implementation of safety systems on vehicles is expected to introduce dramatic and prominent changes, into our transportation system. On the present, most sophisticated systems currently available to the public, fall under the Society of Automotive Engineers Level 2 - Partial Automation. Over the past decades, modeling traffic has become a fundamental instrument in the planning and operational processes of sustainable mobility. In particular, microscopic simulation tools grant the power to represent the traffic general behavior, through mathematical models such as the car-following, among others. Yet, with the increasing number of automated vehicles (AVs) in our transportation system, it is still uncertain the impacts that these will have, in different traffic conditions. Therefore, becomes essential that microscopic simulation can cope as well with the emerging technologies effects on traffic. This document describes the research methodology that will be used to collect and incorporate Partial Automation effects in a car-following model, to assess impacts in the driving behavior and practical implications. To properly address the challenges inherent to this research project, it was defined four main phases of investigation: (1) Assessment of realistic data collection methods; (2) Drivers’ behavioral adaptation in vehicles equipped with Partial Automation; (3) Microscopic modeling integration problems, and (4) Analyze of the practical effects of vehicles equipped with partial automation in terms of road safety and capacity. The main contribution of this Ph.D. is the improvement of a car-following model based on real traffic data, which will allow addressing uncertainties in assumptions about the future and will prepare decision makers and planners for potential outcomes.