Developing and Field Testing a Green Light Optimal Speed Advisory System for Buses

• Published in: Energies (Basel) Vol. 15; no. 4; p. 1491
• Main Authors: Chen, Hao, Rakha, Hesham A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.02.2022
• Subjects: Algorithms; Automation; Buses; Communication; Design of experiments; diesel bus; Diesel fuels; Dynamic programming; eco-cooperative adaptive cruise control; eco-driving; Energy consumption; Energy efficiency; Experimental design; Field study; Field tests; Fuel consumption; fuel consumption model; GLOSA; Optimization; Road tests; signalized intersection; Simulation; Smart roads; Software; Test facilities; Traffic models; Traffic signals; Traffic speed; Travel; Travel time; Vehicles; Velocity
• ISSN: 1996-1073; 1996-1073
• DOI: 10.3390/en15041491

In this study, a Green Light Optimal Speed Advisory (GLOSA) system for buses (B-GLOSA) was developed. The proposed B-GLOSA system was implemented on diesel buses, and field tested to validate and quantify the potential real-world benefits. The developed system includes a simple and easy-to-calibrate fuel consumption model that computes instantaneous diesel bus fuel consumption rates. The bus fuel consumption model, a vehicle dynamics model, the traffic signal timings, and the relationship between vehicle speed and distance to the intersection are used to construct an optimization problem. A moving-horizon dynamic programming problem solved using the A-star algorithm is used to compute the energy-optimized vehicle trajectory through signalized intersections. The Virginia Smart Road test facility was used to conduct the field test on 30 participants. Each participant drove three scenarios, including a base case uninformed drive, an informed drive with signal timing information communicated to the driver, and an informed drive with the recommended speed computed by the B-GLOSA system. The field test investigated the performance of using the developed B-GLOSA system considering different impact factors, including road grades and red indication offsets, using a split-split-plot experimental design. The test results demonstrated that the proposed B-GLOSA system can produce smoother bus trajectories through signalized intersections, thus producing fuel consumption and travel time savings. Specifically, compared to the uninformed drive, the B-GLOSA system produces fuel and travel time savings of 22.1% and 6.1%, on average, respectively.