Increasing Highway Throughput Communications and Control Technologies to Improve Traffic Flow

How can the new capabilities of intelligent vehicles and highway infrastructure be used to reduce congestion and effectively increase highway capacity? This question is the focus of an Exploratory Advanced Research (EAR) Program project launched by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in 2007. Researchers at the Partners for Advanced Transit and Highways (PATH) program of the University of California, Berkeley, are conducting the 3-year project in cooperation with Caltrans. The ability to modulate the speed and spacing of individual vehicles in relation to unseen events further downstream has tremendous potential to keep traffic flowing smoothly, safely, and at its optimum density. With the dedicated short-range communication system being developed under IntelliDrive (previously the Vehicle-Infrastructure Integration or VII initiative), such long-range traffic management opportunities are now conceivable. This EAR project is modeling, testing, and demonstrating prototype systems in three areas: (1) Improving traffic flow by calculating and communicating speed guidance directly to individual drivers. (2) Achieving closer coordination, shorter vehicle separation gaps, and higher effective lane capacities through vehicle-vehicle communication, vehicle-infrastructure communication (VIC), and cooperative adaptive cruise control (CACC). (3) Improving heavy-truck fuel consumption and doubling the capacity of truck-only lanes by forming and maneuvering automated three-truck platoons.

• Record URL:
  http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/advancedresearch/pubs/inchwyfact.cfm
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Program Information: Exploratory Advanced Research

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Sponsor Organizations:

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Project Managers:

  Ferlis, Robert

• Performing Organizations:

  California PATH

  University of California
  Institute of Transportation Studies
  Richmond, CA  United States  94804-4698
• Start Date: 20071005
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 20101005
• Source Data: RiP Project 24687

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Autonomous intelligent cruise control; Communication systems; Heavy duty vehicles; Highway capacity; Intelligent vehicles; Research projects; Traffic flow; Traffic platooning; Vehicle to infrastructure communications; Vehicle to vehicle communications
• Identifier Terms: Cooperative Vehicle Infrastructure Systems
• Subject Areas: Freight Transportation; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01485575
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Federal Highway Administration
• Files: RIP
• Created Date: Jul 3 2013 1:00AM