Effects of roadway factors and demographic characteristics on drivers’ perceived complexity of simulated roadway videos

ABSTRACT

This study examined drivers’ perceived complexity of simulated roadway videos using a full factorial experimental design that featured high and low levels of five roadway factors: (1) work zone treatment, (2) traffic, (3) roadway objects, (4) lane configuration, and (5) urban/rural environments. Results indicated that increased traffic had the greatest effect on perceived complexity with urban (vs. rural) environments having the smallest effect . Segmented demographic models for gender, driving frequency, and driving experience revealed that drivers perceive roadway factors – such as traffic, lane configuration, and roadway objects – differently depending on their demographic characteristics. This finding may shed light on performance differences between demographic groups. This study is also intended to inform the design of simulated and naturalistic studies, for which factorial experiments, such as the one executed here, would be time and resource prohibitive. Finally, these findings may shape behavioral and context sensitive modifications for today’s rapidly evolving transportation systems.

KEYWORDS:

• Perception
• roadway complexity
• driving simulator
• driver performance
• demographic characteristics
• sociodemographic factors

Acknowledgments

This work was sponsored by the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) and the National Center for Transportation Systems Productivity and Management (NCTSPM). Atiyya Shaw and Aaron Greenwood were funded under National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowships for portions of this work, and this material is based upon work supported by the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program: [Grants numbers DGE-1148903 and DGE-1650044]. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of GDOT, NCTSPM, or the NSF. This paper does not constitute a standard, specification, or regulation. The comments of two anonymous reviewers have improved this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Georgia Department of Transportation [FHWA-GA-16-1227]; National Science Foundation: [DGE 1148903 & 1650044]; and the National Center for Transportation Systems Productivity and Management, a USDOT Tier 1 University Transportation Center.