A data-driven lane-changing model based on deep learning

Lane-changing (LC), which is one of the basic driving behavior, largely impacts on traffic efficiency and safety. Modeling an LC process is challenging due to the complexity and uncertainty of driving behavior. To address this issue, this paper proposes a data-driven LC model based on deep learning models. Deep belief network (DBN) and long short-term memory (LSTM) neural network are employed to model the LC process that is composed of LC decisions (LCD) and LC implementation (LCI). The empirical LC data provided by Next Generation Simulation project (NGSIM) is utilized to train and test the proposed DBN-based LCD model and LSTM-based LCI model. The results indicate that the proposed data-driven model is able to accurately predict the LC process of a vehicle. The sensitivity analysis shows that the most important factor associated with LCD is the relative position of the preceding vehicle in the target lane. This may be the first work that comprehensively models LC using deep learning approaches.