Simulating interaction behaviors in bi-directional shared corridor with real case study

Abstract

Microscopic traffic simulation tools are able to evaluate possible impacts induced by automated shuttles under various conditions. However, automated shuttles operate more and more often in shared space areas and few microscopic traffic simulation tools are able to handle networks with shared space infrastructure. Interaction behaviors between road users and automated shuttles are addressed only seldom as well. In this paper, we propose the concept of bi-directional edges in the open source microscopic traffic simulation suite SUMO to simulate road users’ interactions in a bi-directional shared-space corridor. A case study, where automated shuttles and cyclists share the bike path, and the related data collection were conducted to examine the performance of the proposed concept and understand the usage of the shared corridor. The simulation results are promising. Further refinement of the proposed concept is planned for properly reflecting complex interaction behaviors among diverse road users, and their surrounding environment.