Adaptive Cruise Control Operation for Improved Motorway Traffic Flow

Abstract

This study presents an ACC (adaptive cruise control)–based traffic control strategy which aims to adapt in real time the driving behavior of ACC-equipped vehicles to the prevailing traffic conditions so that motorway traffic flow efficiency is improved. The potential benefits obtained by applying the proposed control concept are demonstrated for different ACC penetration rates by use of validated microscopic simulation applied to a real motorway stretch where recurrent traffic congestion is created under the current manual driving conditions because of an on-ramp bottleneck. The simulation results demonstrate that, even for low penetration rates of ACC vehicles, the proposed control concept improves the average vehicle delay and fuel consumption by reducing the space-time extent of congestion compared with the case of only manually driven or regular ACC vehicles.