Convoy driving is usually considered in the context of an automated highway system (AHS), in which convoys rely on the existence of highway systems to support inter vehicle communications. However, convoys may form without highway systems support provided that there is adequate vehicle based technology, particularly vehicle to vehicle communication. This paper focuses on the potential improvements to motorway capacity which may occur after the deployment of such a vehicle based convoy system. The study was carried out using the fuzzy logic based motorway traffic simulation model, FLOWSIM, which is capable of modelling convoys under various operational conditions. The main operation parameters include: i) traffic demand, ii) percentage of convoy equipped vehicles, iii) maximum number of vehicles in a convoy (convoy size), iv) inter-convoy spacing, v) intra-convoy spacing, and vi) convoy speed. The simulation results have shown that convoy operations can significantly increase motorway capacity in some situations. The capacity benefits increase with demand and the percentage of convoy equipped vehicles. (A*)
Abstract