Latent class model for car following behavior

Car‐following behavior, which describes the behavior of a vehicle while following the vehicle in front of it, has a significant impact on traffic performance, safety, and air pollution. In addition, car‐following is an essential component of micro‐simulation models. Over the last decade the use of microscopic simulation models as a tool for investigating traffic systems, ITS applications, and emission impacts, is becoming increasingly popular. The paper presents a flexible framework for modeling car‐following behavior that relaxes some limitations and assumptions of the most commonly used car following models. The proposed approach recognizes different regimes in driving such as car‐following, free‐flow, emergency stopping, and incorporates different decisions in each regime, such as acceleration, deceleration, and do‐nothing depending on the situation. A case study using NGSIM vehicle trajectory data is used to illustrate the proposed model structure. Statistical tests suggest that the model performs better than previous models.