Simulation-Based Analysis of "What-If" Scenarios with Connected and Automated Vehicles Navigating Roundabouts

Sensors (Basel). 2022 Sep 3;22(17):6670. doi: 10.3390/s22176670.

Abstract

Despite the potential of connected and automated vehicles (CAVs), there are still many open questions on how road capacity can be influenced and what methods can be used to assess its expected benefits in the progressive transition towards fully cooperative driving. This paper contributes to a better understanding of the benefits of CAV technologies by investigating mobility-related issues of automated vehicles operating with a cooperative adaptive cruise control system on roundabout efficiency using microscopic traffic simulation. The availability of the adjustment factors for CAVs provided by the 2022 Highway Capacity Manual allowed to adjust the entry capacity equations to reflect the presence of CAVs on roundabouts. Two mechanisms of entry maneuver based on the entry lane type were examined to compare the capacity target values with the simulated capacities. The microscopic traffic simulator Aimsun Next has been of great help in building the "what-if" traffic scenarios that we analysed to endorse hypothesis on the model parameters which affect the CAVs' capabilities to increase roundabouts' throughput. The results highlighted that the increasing penetration rates of CAVs have greater impacts on the operational performances of roundabouts, and provided a synthetic insight to assess the potential benefits of CAVs from an efficiency perspective.

Keywords: connected automated vehicles; entry capacity; microscopic simulation; road infrastructure; roundabout.

MeSH terms

  • Accidents, Traffic*
  • Automobile Driving*
  • Autonomous Vehicles
  • Computer Simulation
  • Safety

Grants and funding

This research was partially funded by CROWDSENSE project (POFESR2014-20_Sicily—Sicilian Region—PO FESR 2014–2020), Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, Italy.