01628765

Component

https://doi.org/10.3141/2622-01

Autonomous vehicles are expected to influence daily travel significantly. Despite autonomous vehicles’ potential to enhance safety and to reduce congestion, energy consumption, and emissions, many studies suggest that the system-level effects will be minimal at low market penetration rates. Introducing reserved lanes for autonomous vehicles is one potential approach to address this limitation because these lanes increase autonomous vehicles’ density. However, preventing regular vehicles from using specific lanes can significantly increase congestion in other lanes. Accordingly, this study explored the potential effects of reserving one lane for autonomous vehicles on traffic flow dynamics and travel time reliability. A two-lane hypothetical segment with an on-ramp and a four-lane highway segment in Chicago, Illinois, was simulated under different market penetration rates of autonomous vehicles. Three strategies were evaluated: (a) mandatory use of the reserved lane by autonomous vehicles, (b) optional use of the reserved lane by autonomous vehicles, and (c) limiting autonomous vehicles to operate autonomously in the reserved lane. Policies based on combinations of these strategies were simulated. It was found that optional use of the reserved lane without any limitation on the type of operation could improve congestion and could reduce the scatter in a fundamental diagram. Throughput analysis showed the potential benefit of reserving a lane for autonomous vehicles at market penetration rates of more than 50% for the two-lane highway and 30% for the four-lane highway. Travel time reliability analysis revealed that the optional use of the reserved lane was also significantly beneficial.

01648629

17-04512

English

0000-0002-8443-8928

pp 1–12

2017

Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board

9780309441889

Digital/other

Figures (11) ; Maps; References (21)

Intelligent vehicles; Market share; Reliability; Simulation; Traffic congestion; Traffic flow; Traffic lanes; Travel time

Chicago (Illinois)

Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Dec 8 2016 11:44AM

• Cellular Automata–Based Modeling and Simulation of a Mixed Traffic Flow of Manual and Automated Vehicles
• Estimating the Impacts of Bus Stops and Transit Signal Priority on Intersection Operations: Queuing and Variational Theory Approach
• Evaluation of Driver Car-Following Behavior Models for Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control Systems
• Improving Urban Street Network Efficiency by Prohibiting Conflicting Left Turns at Signalized Intersections
• Mechanics-Based Acceleration Modeling of Multilane Traffic Flow
• Network Flow Relations and Travel Time Reliability in a Connected Environment
• Optimizing Traffic Flow Efficiency by Controlling Lane Changes: Collective, Group, and User Optima
• Pedestrian Crowd Dynamics Observed at Merging Sections: Impact of Designs on Movement Efficiency
• Resuming Manual Control or Not? Modeling Choices of Control Transitions in Full-Range Adaptive Cruise Control
• SimMobility Short-Term: An Integrated Microscopic Mobility Simulator