Eco-Speed Harmonization with Partially Connected and Automated Traffic at an Isolated Intersection

Abstract

This paper proposed an eco-speed harmonization method at intersections. It is able to reduce carbon emissions by controlling partially connected and automated traffic and signal timing. It has the following features: (i) traffic emission reduction enhancement at various demand levels; (ii) traffic emission achievement while improving the mobility of entire traffic at intersections; (iii) enhanced traffic emission reduction with the help of a small portion of connected and automated vehicles; and (iv) potential implementations in the near feature. To validate the effectiveness, the proposed method is evaluated against a state-of-the-art strategy. Sensitivity analysis is conducted under various demand levels and market penetration rates (MPRs) of connected and automated vehicles (CAVs). The result shows that the proposed method outperforms and has the benefits of traffic emission reduction, throughput improvement, and stop frequency reduction. The proposed method demonstrates consistent performance across all demand levels and CAVs’ MPR. The proposed approach can achieve a reduction in emissions ranging from 4% to 61%, an average increase in throughput of around 14.91%, and a decrease in the stop frequency of at least 26%. This provides the foundation for future CAVs-based eco-approaching strategies.