Impacts of Autonomous Vehicle Heterogeneity on Traffic Flow

With the development of Autonomous Vehicles (AVs), a promising future for their implementation becomes increasingly apparent. However, it is essential to acknowledge that the effects of AV deployment are not straightforward, particularly when considering scenarios involving AVs from different manufacturers and various levels of automation. The...

Assessing Moving Block Railway Capacity Based on Fixed Block Infrastructure Occupation

Moving block signalling promises a significant reduction of the infrastructure occupation compared to a fixed block system, such as NS’54/ATB. This is mainly caused by a strong reduction of the approach and running time. However, to assess the capacity gains track occupation data, such as blocking times are needed. ETCS L3 Moving Block is still...

Safety and Sustainable Development of Automated Driving in Mixed-Traffic Urban Areas—Considering Vulnerable Road Users and Network Efficiency

Next to environmental aspects, establishing areas for safe and economically viable automated driving in mixed-traffic settings is one major challenge for sustainable development of Autonomous Vehicles (AVs). This work investigates safety in the interactions between AVs, human-driven vehicles, and vulnerable road users, including cyclists and...

Microscopic simulation of decentralized dispatching strategies in railways

This paper analyzes the effectiveness of decentralized strategies for dispatching rolling stock and train drivers in a railway system. Such strategies give operators a robust alternative in case centralized control fails due to an abundance of infrastructure or rolling stock disruptions or information system malfunctions. We test the...

Safety of Automated Driving in Mixed-Traffic Urban Areas: Considering Vulnerable Road Users and Network Efficiency

The establishment of areas for safe automated driving in mixed-traffic settings is one major barrier in the development and adoption of Autonomous Vehicles (AVs). This work investigates safety in the interactions between AVs, human-driven vehicles, and vulnerable road users such as cyclists and pedestrians in a simulated urban environment in the...

Ramp metering: a microscopic control approach: A case study in the Netherlands

In order to reduce congestion numbers on the highways, ramp metering can be used. The currently existing ramp metering control strategies are of a macroscopic nature. This means that the average occupancy on the main lane or average flow values on the main lane determine the temporarily fixed cycle times for the traffic light located near the on...

Comparative Safety Assessment of Automated Driving Strategies at Highway Merges in Mixed Traffic

We present a simulation-based approach to assess the safety impacts of vehicles equipped with Automated Driving Systems (ADS) in mixed traffic with Human-driven Vehicles (HV). Specifically, we compare two generic longitudinal strategies of ADS to handle a cut-in: Reactive ADS acting only when the cut-in vehicle crosses the target lane boundary,...

ERTMS/ETCS Hybrid Level 3: A simulation-based impact assessment for the Dutch railway network

Block signalling and Automatic Train Protection are two of the main railway safety systems to control the risk of train accidents. The combination of the existing Dutch block signalling system NS’54 and ATP-system ATB-EG is functioning well, but has some drawbacks. The systems have been designed over 60 years ago with proven technology of that...

Design guidelines for turbulence in traffic on Dutch motorways

Over the years the characteristics of traffic on Dutch motorways has changed, but its design guidelines did not develop as rapidly and large parts remain unchanged since the first guidelines from the 1970s. During the latest revision of the Dutch motorway design guidelines it became clear that a solid and comprehensive theoretical, or...

Unravelling effects of cooperative adaptive cruise control deactivation on traffic flow characteristics at merging bottlenecks

Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control (CACC) systems have the potential to increase roadway capacity and mitigate traffic congestion thanks to the short following distance enabled by inter-vehicle communication. However, due to limitations in acceleration and deceleration capabilities of CACC systems, deactivation and switch to ACC or human...

Impacts of Truck Platooning at Motorway On-ramps: Analysis of traffic performance and safety effects of different platooning strategies and platoon configurations using microscopic simulation

In this research, insight is gained into the impacts of truck platooning on traffic performance and safety at motorway on-ramps in mixed traffic using microscopic simulation. Thereby different platooning strategies and platoon configurations are considered, that for instance differ in desired platoon inter-vehicle gaps and platoon sizes. The...

Empirical Investigation of Strategy-Based Lane Change Choice: A driving experiment and questionnaire

Coordination concepts for ramp metering control in a freeway network

The steadily increasing numbers and lengths of traffic jams on freeways have led to the application of Dynamic Traffic Management (DTM) measures all over the world. Ramp metering control has proven to be one of the most efficient means to reduce freeway congestion. Currently, it is expected that integrated and coordinated application of DTM...