PMSS Project Details

Project ID:	FHWA-PROJ-07-0019
Project Name:	Development and Evaluation of Selected Mobility Applications for Vehicle-Infrastructure Integration
Status:	Completed
Contact:	Last Name: Ferlis First Name: Robert A (Bob) Telephone: 202-493-3268 E-mail: robert.ferlis@dot.gov
Organization:	Federal Highway Administration - Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center (TFHRC)
Office:	Office of Operations Research and Development
Team:	N/A
Roadmap/Focus area(s):	Not Applicable
Project Description:	The objectives of this project are to design, test, and evaluate three ways of employing wireless communication, specifically to: (1) Use probe vehicle data to characterize local freeway traffic speed and density, and then use that information to generate reference speed advisories back to individual drivers and vehicles to enact the speed control, to dissipate shock waves, and to improve throughput. (2) Use vehicle-to-vehicle communication to generate reference speed and gap adjustment commands to cooperative adaptive cruise control systems, to enable them to follow more closely and safely, and also dissipate shock waves and increase throughput. (3) Use vehicle-to-vehicle communication between heavy trucks to enable them to operate in close-formation automated platoons, increasing lane capacity, and reducing aerodynamic drag. The fundamental technical approach follows the general iterative system paradigm of model-design-test-model. Mathematical and computer models will be used to predict system performance and interactions with the operating environment. These models will be the basis for making design tradeoffs and focusing on the preferred designs for testing. The preferred designs will be developed in prototype hardware and software (building on extensive legacy hardware and software from previous projects), and then tested under the most realistic conditions that are possible within schedule and budget constraints. The results of the tests will then be used to update the models, and the models will be used to predict the impacts of widespread implementation. Additional milestones have been defined for the intermediate completion of stages of system design, for the completion of test vehicle hardware and software installations, and for demonstrations that will be offered to the sponsors and stakeholders.
Laboratories:	Not Applicable
Start Date:	September 1, 2007
End Date:	July 13, 2011
Funding Amount:	$1,481,465.00
FHWA Program Name:	Exploratory Advanced Research
Goals:	Advanced communication technologies can enable optimization of traffic management, improved traffic flow and capacity, and automated platooning (vehicles traveling very closely behind one another, also referred to as "road trains") of trucks.
Project Type:	Offsite
Background Information:	Data not yet available
Test Methodology:	Develop concept of operation, assess enabling technologies, conduct human factors tests, analyze concepts through simulations, and conduct tests in laboratory and on test track.
Other Information:	Data not yet available
Partners:	California Department of Transportation; Role(s): Other stakeholder
More Information URL(s):
Fieldtest:	Limited testing of truck automation systems on public roads with restricted public access.
Expected Benefits:	Reduced congestion, improved safety, and improved environmental performance.
Deliverables:	1. Name: Technical Report Product Type(s): Research report Description: Summary of research findings and recommendations. Audiences: Researchers Secondary Audiences: 2. Name: Simulation using AIMSUN (advanced interactive microscopic simulator for urban and non-urban networks) of CACC (cooperative adaptive cruise control) vehicles and macroscopic cellular transmission model traffic simulation results. Product Type(s): Research report, Data Description: Software and data supporting research results. Audiences: Researchers Secondary Audiences: Publication URL(s): http://gateway.path.berkeley.edu/~xylu/data/VII_FHWA_Project/
Related URL(s):
Project Findings:	This project has shown how connected vehicle systems, based on vehicle-vehicle andvehicle-infrastructure communication and coordination, can support the development ofmobility-enhancing applications with the potential to transform the performance of theroad transportation system. Three separate mobility-enhancing applications weredeveloped, simulated, and tested, and their expected mobility benefits were estimatedusing simulations. Cooperative adaptive cruise control was shown to have a highpotential for user acceptance, and when applied at the gap settings chosen byrepresentative drivers from the general public, it could double the capacity of a highwaylane at full market penetration. Variable speed limits were shown to have the potential to reduce the adverse impacts of highway bottlenecks by increasing the traffic flow capacity of those bottlenecks if they can be implemented with smooth transitions in the speed limit settings. Automated truck platoon control was shown to be technically feasible using dedicated short range communications for vehicle-vehicle coordination, with the potential for significant fuel savings from aerodynamic drag reductions.
FHWA Topics:	Research/Technologies--Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center (TFHRC)
TRT Terms:	Highway Traffic Control Automated Vehicle Control Operations Research Human Factors Traffic Platooning Speed Limits
FHWA Disciplines:	Operations Freight
Subject Areas:	Operations and Traffic Management Research Vehicles and Equipment Freight Transportation