Exploring the potential benefits of VII-Enabled dynamic speed control in signalized networks
Ghassan Abu–Lebdeh · 2008
ABSTRACT: This paper demonstrates how control with dynamic operating speed (not speed limit) can be used to realize different control objectives including improved traffic f low and safety. The analysis shows that using dynamic speed control (DSC) can improve operations of signalized networks by increasing throughput, decreasing delay and number of stops, and reducing speed noise and speed variation thus lowering the likelihood of accidents. It is shown that using dynamic speed control synchronously with dynamic traffic signal control in signalized networks can enable more sustainable and reliable traffic operations thus leading to higher traffic throughput, reduced accident potential, reduced fuel consumption, and lower emissions levels. As physical capacity of urban networks and signal-only improvements are no longer sufficient to cope with current congestion levels, time has come for new generations of advanced control concepts such as DSC. As information availability improves (through initiatives such as vehicle infrastructure integrated (VII) systems) and with the advances in wireless communications, computation, sensor technologies and their deployment in intelligent transportation system settings, designing and implementing advanced control concepts is now both possible and feasible. A dynamic speed control (DSC) system which communicates the near-optimal speed optimized based on real-time data to guide drivers on their best speed selection is one such concept.