Modelling integrated movements of motorcycles at urban merge sections under mixed traffic conditions

Vehicles at merge sections interact longitudinally and laterally (integrated movement). In this paper, a microscopic simulation method, based on a combination of intelligent driver model (IDM) and social force model (SFM), is developed and compared with a microscopic simulation method based solely on SFM to determine its performance in evaluating these integrated movements. From the simulation and validation results it can be seen that the proposed model (combination of IDM and SFM) is a bit more precise than the simulation model based entirely on SFM. The lateral movement of a motorcycle represents its gap-seeking behaviour: the larger the lead lateral gap between the leader vehicles, the higher the probability of lateral movement. The parameters, such as lateral distance corresponding to overtaking position, relative lane affinity, and lateral clearance between lead vehicles, determine the motorcycle filtering choice. This study is able to replicate the real-time behaviour of motorcycles.