The Impact of Truck Platoons on the Traffic Dynamics Around Off-Ramp Regions

• Published in: IEEE access Vol. 9; pp. 57010 - 57019
• Main Authors: Zhao, Can, Li, Li, Li, Jingwei, Li, Keqiang, Li, Zhiheng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Piscataway IEEE 2021; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Aerodynamics; congestion control strategy; Fuel economy; Indexes; Jamming; Lane changing; off-ramp regions; Platooning; Roads; Traffic; Traffic dynamics; Traffic management; Traffic safety; Trucks; Vehicle dynamics; Vehicular ad hoc networks
• ISSN: 2169-3536; 2169-3536
• DOI: 10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3072070

The platooning technique has shown potential to bring pronounced benefits to road traffic, including higher safety, better fuel economy, and greater comfort. However, an overlong platoon may jeopardize the overall traffic efficiency because of the unintentional obstruction to other traffic participants. Hence, this paper proposes an advance adjustment strategy for the truck platoon in the off-ramp scenarios to reduce the impact on the predictable lane changes of other vehicles. We derive the appropriate platoon length with an analytic method and verify the effectiveness of conclusions via simulations. Both theoretical calculation and simulation experiment results prove that controlling the platoon length within a reasonable range can significantly improve traffic efficiency near a ramp. This study highlights the importance of truck platoon length management on traffic dynamics and provides a valuable reference for future researchers.