A Progressive Deployment Strategy for Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control to Improve Traffic Dynamics

Georges M. Arnaout,Shannon Bowling

doi:10.1007/s11633-014-0760-2

Abstract

Cooperative adaptive cruise control (CACC) vehicles are intelligent vehicles that use vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs) to share traffic information in real time. Previous studies have shown that CACC could have an impact on increasing highway capacities at high market penetration. Since reaching a high CACC market penetration level is not occurring in the near future, this study presents a progressive deployment approach that demonstrates to have a great potential of reducing traffic congestions at low CACC penetration levels. Using a previously developed microscopic traffic simulation model of a freeway with an on-ramp — created to induce perturbations and trigger stop-and-go traffic, the CACC system’s effect on the traffic performance is studied. The results show significance and indicate the potential of CACC systems to improve traffic characteristics which can be used to reduce traffic congestion. The study shows that the impact of CACC is positive and not only limited to a high market penetration. By giving CACC vehicles priority access to high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes, the highway capacity could be significantly improved with a CACC penetration as low as 20%.

Highlights

During the last decades, the United States is constantly facing the problem of traffic congestion and its related negative effects pertaining to safety, loss of productivity, wear and tear on vehicles and many others
Research has shown that cooperative adaptive cruise control (CACC) has a potential of improving the traffic dynamics and safety if widely adopted
The literature pertaining to the impact of CACC on traffic dynamics is lacking because the technology is still fairly new

Summary

Introduction

The United States is constantly facing the problem of traffic congestion and its related negative effects pertaining to safety, loss of productivity, wear and tear on vehicles and many others. The expectations of the use of telematics to solve this problem are high, since this technology has shown a possibility of increasing the highway capacity and the safety if widely adopted[1]. An intelligent transportation systems (ITS) system that is gaining popularity is cooperative adaptive cruise control (CACC). CACC is a new and further development of the adaptive cruise control (ACC) technology by having faster and more accurate real time information sharing among the equipped vehicles. Research has shown that CACC has a potential of improving the traffic dynamics (flow, density, speed variation, average speed, etc.) and safety if widely adopted (related literature covered ). The literature pertaining to the impact of CACC on traffic dynamics is lacking because the technology is still fairly new (no CACC equipped vehicles exist in the market at this point)

Methods

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Discussion

Conclusion