A simulation study of traffic efficiency improvement based on Car-to-X communication

Abstract

There are several promising applications for car-to-x communication that aim at the improvement of traffic efficiency. With the increasing maturity of car-to-x communication systems, insights into the impacts of these applications on vehicular traffic are required. In this paper, we present a simulation study of traffic efficiency improvements that can be obtained by the utilization of a merging assistance application ahead of a freeway lane drop. Our investigations are based on the traffic simulation tool AIMSUN. We connect the traffic simulator with a simulation model that implements the merging assistance application as well as the message exchange between vehicles and a roadside unit. Simulation results show significant traffic efficiency improvements indicated by travel time reductions of up to 30% in dense traffic under ideal conditions.