Connected e-Bicycle Platoons at Unsignalised Intersections

Abstract

This paper presents a concept of an unsignalised intersection control system for connected bicycle platoons. The system is motivated by a real case study of an unsignalised intersection at Tsinghua University, in China, where bicycle jams and accidents frequently occur. The proposed system is assumed to utilise CACC and V2V to coordinate platoon formation and following distance, in order to facilitate and increase traffic filtering at the unsignalised intersection. In this paper, the proposed system is validated using SUMO by emulating four different scenarios, and improvements in bicycle traffic flow and speed, compared to the nominal scenario, are measured. It is seen that the proposed platoon-based system significantly increases intersection flow and speed by 150 % and 764 %, respectively, for west-bound bicycle traffic, in comparison to the nominal scenario. The simulations demonstrate that there exists opportunity in further investigating and developing connected bicycle platoon technology and unsignalised intersection control systems, to make bicycle travel more safe and appealing, and facilitate improvements to transportation options to keep cities moving.