It is show that once the change in the average speed in a treaffic system has been determined, using a simple model of the dependence of urban fuel consumption on average traffic speed, without the necessity of performing fuel summation. Fuel economy and speed information from a rectn study by Lieberman and Cohen which calculated the effect on fuel economy and emilisions of permitting a right turn on red at signalized intersection, is used to illustrate the application of the model. These researchers applied a detailed computer simulation to a network of streets in Washinton, D.C. and obtained fuel consumption by adding up the fuel used to execute each individual maneuver. Agreement is found bethween the simulation results and the model derived from actual driving in urban traffic. As an alternative to a detailed calculation based on individual vehicle trajectories, this model provides a simple method for evaluating changes in fuel consumption associated with various operating policies in urban traffic in cases where the effect on mean speed can be estimated by simulation or other means.
Abstract