Development of Realistic Shortest Path Algorithm Considering Lane Changes

Summary Lane changes occur as many times as turning movements are needed while following a designated path. The cost of a route with many lane changes is likely to be more expensive than that with less lane changes, and unrealistic paths with impractical lane changes should be avoided for drivers' safety. In this regard, a new algorithm is developed in this study to find the realistic shortest path considering lane changing. The proposed algorithm is a modified link-labeling Dijkstra algorithm considering the effective lane-changing time that is a parametric function of the prevailing travel speed and traffic density. The parameters were estimated using microscopic traffic simulation data, and the numerical test demonstrated the performance of the proposed algorithm. It was found that the magnitude of the effect of the effective lane-changing time on determining the realistic shortest path is nontrivial, and the proposed algorithm has capability to exclude links successfully where the required lane changes are practically impossible. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.