01706978

Component

https://doi.org/10.1177/0361198119847618

This paper sheds light on mixed-traffic dynamics considering the differences in driving characteristics, namely acceleration/deceleration rate, desired speed, and response time, between connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) and human-driven vehicles (HDVs). In light traffic, these differences were found to induce platoon formations, headed by vehicles with a lower acceleration rate and propensity not to exceed the desired speed (HDV in this study). Platoon formations lead to large inter-platoon spacing that can be utilized to accommodate cut-in vehicles. In a near-capacity condition, however, the differences in driving characteristics can induce voids and undermine traffic throughput when traffic is disturbed by merging vehicles. Based on these findings, a simple CAV control method is proposed based on the spring-mass-damper (SMD) system approach that directly considers the HDV behavior to mitigate disturbance propagation and throughput reduction. The main principle is to adjust the control parameters (lower spring coefficient and higher damping coefficient in the SMD control model) with an aim to control CAVs to absorb the cut-in impact (i.e., spacing shortage) before it reaches the first upstream HDV. A simulation experiment suggests the feasible region of the control parameters, subject to the recovery time, the number of controllable CAVs, and the cut-in impact.

19-05557

English

pp 504-515

2019-7

Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board

Web

Figures (9) ; References (25) ; Tables (3)

Autonomous vehicles; Connected vehicles; Control systems; Merging traffic; Traffic density; Traffic platooning; Vehicle mix; Vehicle spacing

Data and Information Technology; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Vehicles and Equipment

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Apr 12 2019 12:27PM