Safety analysis of taxi lane changing behavior

Taxi, by providing flexible and convenient service, becomes one of the most importation modes of passenger transport. However, the increasing popular of taxi has brought several problems to urban traffic. The current study is to explore the characteristics and safety of taxi lane changing behavior on urban road. The initial collected data provide evidence that taxis are more frequently to change lanes with smaller space than other public vehicles. Furthermore, safety of taxi driving behavior is examined quantificationally using several analysis models and examples. Results suggest that the frequent and risk-taking lane changes make traffic flow to be unstable and increase the possibilities exposed to crashes.