THE EFFECT OF A SPECIAL LANE FOR INTELLIGENT VEHICLES ON TRAFFIC FLOWS. AN EXPLORATORY STUDY USING THE MICROSCOPIC TRAFFIC SIMULATION MODEL MIXIC

Abstract

This study explores traffic flow impacts of a dedicated lane for 'intelligent' vehicles using the MICroscopic model for Simulation of Intelligent Cruise control (MIXIC) 1.3. The objective of the study is to examine whether making a lane available for 'intelligent' vehicles can increase the capacity of a bottleneck in the motorway network. The 'intelligent' vehicles were assumed to have an Intelligent Cruise Control (ICC) functionality. A road configuration was examined which consists of a motorway where the left lane of a four-lane section is dropped. The study addressed a number of steps along which the dedicated lane can be introduced into a three-lane bottleneck situation. The ICC introduction into the bottleneck situation resulted in: (1) an improvement in the number and severity of shock waves; and (2) in a throughput improvement of several percent with respect to the maximal throughput of approximately 7570 pcu/h for the reference situation. The introduction of the ICC lane gave a slight decrease in speed at a slightly higher number of vehicles in the simulation. The introduction of short headways on the ICC lane caused: (a) some problems of merging at the approach to the ICC lane; and (b) a throughput improvement of several percent with respect to the reference case without ICC. The exploratory nature of the study needs to be emphasised. (A) See also IRRD 898630.