The behaviour of car drivers on a motorway in case of an entry of a dedicated truck lane was studied in a driving simulator. The main question was whether the truck lane entry induces specific types of behaviour which may increase congestion. In particular, it was investigated whether or not drivers change lane to the left in order to avoid the merging trucks. The results show that drivers tend to go to the left at a considerable distance upstream of the truck lane entry, in particular in case of low traffic volumes. The effect of the speed distribution across the lanes indicated that speed advantage has a major effect on whether or not drivers go to the left in case of the truck lane. In case traffic in the left lane is slower than in the right lane fewer drivers changed lane to the left. The tendency to go to the left was reduced in case the drivers surrounding the subject anticipated on the merging trucks by going to the left. Traffic volume on the truck lane had no effect on the lane change behaviour upstream of the entry. At the entry itself, drivers tended to go to the left more often in case of increased volume on the truck lane, even if there was no speed advantage.
Samenvatting