Investigation of Discretionary Lane-Changing Decisions: Insights From the Third Generation Simulation (TGSIM) Dataset

The data-driven characterization of discretionary lane-changing behaviors has traditionally been hindered by the scarcity of high-resolution data that can precisely record lateral movements. In this study, we conducted an exploratory investigation leveraging the Third Generation Simulation (TGSIM) dataset to advance our understanding of discretionary lane-changing behaviors. In this paper, we developed a discretionary lane-changing extraction pipeline and scrutinized crucial factors such as gaps and relative speeds in leading and following directions. A dynamic time warping (DTW) analysis was performed to quantify the difference between any pair of lane-changing behaviors, and an affinity propagation (AP) clustering, evaluated on normalized DTW distance, was conducted. Our results yielded five clusters based on lead and lag gaps, enabling us to categorize lane-changing behaviors into aggressive, neutral, and cautious for both leading and following directions. Clustering based on relative speeds revealed two distinct groups of lane-changing behaviors, one representing overtaking and the other indicative of transitioning into a lane with stable and homogenous speed. The proposed DTW analysis, in conjunction with AP clustering, demonstrated promising potential in categorizing and characterizing lane-changing behaviors. Additionally, this approach can be readily adapted to analyze any driving behavior.