Threshold Research on Highway Length under Typical Landscape Patterns Based on Drivers’ Physiological Performance

Abstract

The appropriately landscaped highway scenes may not only help improve road safety and comfort but also help protect ecological environment. Yet there is very little research data on highway length threshold with consideration of distinctive landscape patterns. Against this backdrop, the paper aims to quantitatively analyze highway landscape’s effect on driving behavior based on drivers’ physiological performance and quantify highway length thresholds under three typical landscape patterns, namely, “open,” “semiopen,” and “vertical” ones. The statistical analysis was based on data collected in a driving simulator and electrocardiograph. Specifically, vehicle-related data, ECG data, and supplemental subjective stress perception were collected. The study extracted two characteristic indices, lane deviation and LF/HF, and extrapolated the drivers’ U-shaped physiological response to landscape patterns. Models on highway length were built based on LF/HF’s variation trend with highway length. The results revealed that the theoretical highway length threshold tended to increase when the landscape pattern was switched to open, semiopen, and vertical ones. And the reliability and accuracy of the results were validated by questionnaires and field operational tests. Findings from this research will assist practitioners in taking active environmental countermeasures pertaining to different roadside landscape patterns.