Traffic Operations and Management

This paper investigates the problem of designing an Intelligent Cruise Control (ICC) algorithm for automated vehicles. An ICC algorithm, if implemented by every vehicle in the traffic, must guarantee that the density disturbances attenuate as they propagate up stream. Such a desirable property of the traffic is dependent on the spacing policy employed by automated vehicles and on the availability of information required to synthesize a string stable control law consistent with the employed spacing policy. The first part of the paper is concerned with the design of a spacing policy and the...

This document summarizes the microscopic traffic simulation models used in the project entitled Using Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control (CACC) to Form High-Performance Vehicle Streams. The major components of the microscopic traffic model include the vehicle dispatching model, human driver model and ACC/CACC model. The vehicle dispatching model determines how a modeled vehicle enters the simulation network and the distribution of different types of vehicles across the multi-lane highway. The human driver model and ACC/CACC model specify the car following and lane changing behaviors of...

The objective of this study is to evaluate alternative frameworks for Computer Integrated Transportation (CIT) from an institutional perspective. This was accomplished through site visits and interviews at existing Transportation Management Centers (TMCs), along with focus group sessions in which strategies for CIT were presented to TMC managers and staff for their comments and discussion. The study found that four factors: 1) time-frame, 2) linking information to actions, 3) broadcast orientation, and 4) embracement of new technologies have profound implications for Intelligent...

This report studied person throughput as an impact metric for proposed BRT routes under Caltrans jurisdiction, given the agency’s specific interest in preserving or improving the performance of particular state-owned corridors. It also introduces a simple spreadsheet tool to estimate a BRT project’s traffic impact and show how improved bus service can boost corridor performance. Representatives of Caltrans D4, D7, and D11 were interviewed after tentative development of the tool, expressed support of a transition towards person throughput, and offered feedback on how the tool might best...