Study on traffic flow mixed with autonomous vehicles and human-driven vehicles

Abstract

The autonomous vehicles will be introduced to the traffic system, but there are still human-driven vehicles driving on the road. The feature traffic flow will mix with autonomous vehicles and human-driven vehicles for a long time. In order to study the mixed traffic, a new cellular automata model is proposed. Through the study, the maximum average flow which is influenced by the ratio of autonomous vehicles is investigated. It is found that 30% penetration rate is a critical point, the average flow is increased significantly after that. Then, the relationship between penetration rate and traffic congestion is analyzed, when the penetration is increased, the congestion will be suppressed. But something different happens from 40% to 60% penetration rate, the traffic congestion has not decreased obviously comparing with other penetration rate interval. Finally, the human-driven vehicles arrange the communication device is discussed, the influence on the average flow only works on the low penetration rate.