Controlled Experiments on Lane Changing by Transitional Autonomous Vehicle: Dataset and Behavioral Insights

Abstract

This paper presents the North Carolina Transitional Autonomous Vehicle Lane-Changing (NC-tALC) dataset and uses it to characterize mandatory lane-changing behavior of transitional automated vehicles (tAVs). It quantifies the evolution of lead--lag gaps throughout the lane-change process and examines how potential collision risk develops during the maneuver. A controlled field experiment comprising 78 mandatory lane-change trials was conducted on a public roadway in Apex, North Carolina. Four instrumented vehicles created repeatable traffic conditions while varying the lane changer's initial position within the candidate target gap. High-resolution RTK-GNSS/INS trajectories were processed to identify key timestamps, calculate lead, lag, and lane-change gaps, and estimate interactions using time-gap- and speed-based surrogate safety measures. Despite substantial differences in initial conditions, lead and lag gaps consistently converged toward a relatively narrow range near lane crossing. Potential collision risk increased as the maneuver progressed, peaked near physical lane entry, and was dominated by interactions with the target-lane leader. Lane-change completion did not necessarily coincide with the disappearance of collision risk. This study provides one of the first controlled empirical characterizations of the complete mandatory lane-change process of tAVs using repeatable public-road experiments. The NC-tALC dataset supports analysis of behavioral and safety evolution throughout the maneuver rather than only at the gap-acceptance instant. The dataset and findings provide empirical benchmarks for evaluating automated lane-changing behavior, calibrating behavioral models, and validating simulation and safety assessment methods for mandatory lane-change scenarios.