Definition of congestion based on drivers' consciousness

Abstract

We propose a new definition of freeway congestion on the basis of drivers' consciousness. The new definition is defined by both average speed and travel time on a congested freeway through psychological analysis. We also propose an useful method in order to distinguish congested freeway domains by using vehicle detectors' data. By adapting this new definition to distinguish the domains, we can obtain the results which are more stable than the results by the conventional definition and also which really match the driver's consciousness.<>