Traffic Flow Theory and Driver Behavioral Modeling

The National Science Foundation (NSF)-and the US Department of Transportation funded research conducted at the George Washington University Transportation Program (GWTP) focuses on quantifying the safety impact of roadway infrastructure on driver behavior. This research involves collaborations with multiple universities including Texas A&M University and the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign (UIUC). It includes experimental research and theoretical development, modeling, and simulation. This research has been extended recently with the objective of providing solutions yielding a collision-free traffic network. Three instrumented vehicles capable of collecting longitudinal and lateral driver behavioral data in real-life traffic situations are being tested. Different collision data libraries are being investigated. Moreover, sensing algorithms and educational applets are being developed to gather data while educating students on the impact of individual drivers’ decisions and autonomous vehicles on the aggregate traffic conditions given different surrounding environments.