Impact study of vehicle platooning and gap management on traffic operation through automated vehicles

Abstract

Since the advent of automated vehicle technologies, the current trend of practice in this fast-evolving field has started to move from basic research and development in a lab environment to field trials and pilot testing. While a number of studies on V2V communications and vehicle control systems have been reported for the purpose of enhancing traffic safety, this research focuses on the efficiency benefit of the technologies in traffic operations when implemented even in a small number of vehicles in the traffic stream. Specifically, this presentation discusses the effects of automated vehicles in a traffic flow mixed with regular (human operated) vehicles on platoon formation and gap acceptance to increase roadway capacity and reduce delay. The theoretical basis for such improvements is reviewed first, followed by case studies involving intersection dilemma reduction, side street gap selection, and bottleneck management at a work zone. The resultant benefits are quantified under different rates of market penetration of the automated vehicles, which are distributed randomly in the traffic stream. Preliminary findings are summarized, including the pros and cons of the implementation.