Analysis on Car Drivers' Way-Finding Mechanism and its Change by Continuous Car-Driving Experiment

The ultimate objective of this study is to make clear the mechanism of wayfinding and route choice of car drivers. Authors conducted a continuous car-driving experiment, in which subjects are asked to drive from an origin to an destination for about 20 times in about three months where they have had not visited before. As a resultof the experiment, it was made clear that there are three steps of wayfinding and route choice. In the first step, drivers has very limited choice of route choice such as wide arteries because they have little information about the street network. In the second step, drivers try to get information and make try and error to wayfinding. As a result, they get enough information about the street network of the area. At the last step, they have a few alternatives that they can select appropriate one to meet the situation at that time.