Efficient control of connected and automated vehicles on a two-lane highway with a moving bottleneck

Abstract

This paper investigates the traffic flow of connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) inducing by a moving bottleneck on a two-lane highway. A heuristic rules-based algorithm (HRA) has been used to control the traffic flow upstream of the moving bottleneck. In the HRA, some CAVs in the control zone are mapped onto the neighboring lane as virtual ones. To improve the driving comfort, the command acceleration caused by virtual vehicle is restricted. Comparing with the benchmark in which the CAVs change lane as soon as the lane changing condition is met, the HRA significantly improves the traffic flow: the overtaking throughput as well as the outflow rate increases, the travel delay and the fuel consumption decrease, the comfort level could also be improved.