Analyzing the freeway capacity and examining the improvements via connected and autonomous vehicles

Technology is getting better and improving each and every day. Transportation systems are getting smarter and more tolerant of human errors. In the near future, it won't be surprising to see autonomous vehicles on our roads. However, this can not happen in one night and there will be a transition phase where conventional and automated vehicles will coexist. Connected vehicle technology will provide many opportunities. Reduced accident rates, reduced emissions, reduced parking requirements, reduced congestion and reliable journeying times are some of these advantages. Micro simulations have been broadly adopted for many evaluations, and there are serious challenges that should be answered. In this regard, simulation model calibration and validation are crucial for evaluating the potential improvements offered by connected car technology. In this research, possible changes happening on the freeway merge sites through the usage of connected vehicle technology tried to be investigated by using a VISSIM simulation model that meets current peak capacities. As a result of the experiments and investigations, it has been found that, when compared to traffic with only conventional vehicles, the vehicle capacity in the research area increases by an average of 5% for every 10% increase in autonomous vehicles. Additionally, it was shown that penetration rates up to 40% had the best results, outperforming all other percentages by a considerable margin. To conclude, the addition of autonomous vehicles for the enhancement of effective traffic management made a significant improvement to the transportation study. However, additional studies and applications of the same logics with various models is advised to improve future studies.