Operational factor analysis of the aggressive taxi speeders using random parameters Bayesian LASSO modeling approach

Area of Science:

• Traffic Safety
• Transportation Engineering
• Behavioral Analysis

Background:

• Taxi speeding presents significant safety risks, with aggressive speeders exhibiting both high frequency and severity of violations.
• Existing research on taxi speeding primarily focuses on frequency, neglecting the specific operational factors influencing aggressive speeding behaviors.
• Understanding these factors is crucial for developing targeted interventions to mitigate hazards associated with aggressive taxi drivers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and analyze the operational factors contributing to aggressive taxi speeding behavior.
• To differentiate between moderate and belligerent speeders based on their operational patterns.
• To inform taxi driver management strategies and safety measures by highlighting key behavioral determinants.

Main Methods:

• Utilized taxi GPS trajectory data from Chengdu, China, to extract speeding behaviors and operational factors.
• Employed fuzzy C-means clustering to categorize taxi speeders into restrained, moderate, and belligerent groups.
• Applied a random parameters Bayesian binary logistic LASSO model to identify significant operational factors influencing aggressive speeding.

Main Results:

• Aggressive taxi speeders (moderate and belligerent) are associated with longer daily driving/cruise distances, shorter delivery times, higher hourly income, night driving, and driving on low-speed limit roads.
• Intensive lane changes and adequate daily naps were not found to be significant factors contributing to aggressive speeding.
• Belligerent speeders demonstrated greater sensitivity to operational factors compared to moderate speeders.

Conclusions:

• Taxi speeder classification is essential for effective driver management and the development of targeted safety interventions.
• Operational factors such as driving patterns, delivery efficiency, and time of day significantly influence aggressive speeding.
• Tailoring countermeasures based on identified operational factors is recommended to address aggressive taxi speeding behaviors effectively.