Exploring the effects of cooperative adaptive cruise control in mitigating traffic congestion

The aim of this research is to examine the impact of CACC (Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control) equipped vehicles on traffic-flow characteristics of a multilane highway system. The research identifies how CACC vehicles affect the dynamics of traffic flow on a road network and demonstrates the potential benefits of reducing traffic congestion due to stop-and-go traffic conditions. An agent-based traffic simulation model is developed specifically to examine the effect of these intelligent vehicles on the traffic flow dynamics. Traffic performance metrics characterizing the evolution of traffic congestion throughout the road network, are analyzed. Different CACC penetration levels are studied.;The positive impact of the CACC technology is demonstrated and shown that it has an impact of increasing the highway capacity and mitigating traffic congestions. This effect is sensitive to the market penetration and the traffic arrival rate. In addition, a progressive deployment strategy for CACC is proposed and validated.