Investigating Effects of New Vehicle Technologies on Highway Safety from Transition to Full Implementation

公路系统为乘客和货物提供了最重要的运输方式。 道路基础设施的规划和设计是一项相对简单的任务，直到20世纪初机动车辆的引入，这需要对道路设计和建设进行重大改变。然而，道路设计准则的发展，以解决出现的安全问题是大约半个世纪后的实际需要，甚至在加拿大更晚。通信和计算技术的最新进展通过开发和部署两种独立的新车辆技术使车辆设计走上了重大革命性变革的道路：联网车辆（CV），其中车辆可以相互通信并与公路基础设施通信，以及自动驾驶车辆（AV），也称为自动驾驶车辆。虽然一些CV/AV技术已经部署在道路上，但估计最早将在2020-2025年进行大规模实施。这些技术的全面实施不仅会带来显着的好处，包括减少拥堵、减少燃油消耗和车辆排放、提高机动性以及大幅减少碰撞，而且随着它们渗透到市场，也会带来显着的好处。虽然CV/AV技术是为在现有道路基础设施上运行而开发的，但为了充分发挥这些新技术的优势，肯定需要对道路进行改造。* 本研究提案旨在调查车队从当前技术过渡到CV/AV时可能出现的挑战，并可能对交通安全产生负面影响。具体而言，该提案有两个目标，涉及不同技术水平的车队之间的相互作用以及干线和高速公路的几何设计。第一个目标是最大限度地减少混合车队中的单个车辆在特定公路元素上或从一个元素到另一个元素的速度差异。这种差异对交通安全产生了负面影响，并已成为公路设计一致性评价的标准。第二个目标是克服车辆进入或离开高速公路的挑战，因为自动驾驶汽车能够以最小的间隙在队列中行驶，并优化高速公路匝道终端的交通流动性和安全性。为了实现这些目标，该提案将设计一致性和可靠性分析扩展到CV/AV环境中的公路设计，包括过渡期。成功开展拟议的研究将有助于省级交通部为新的车辆技术做好准备，并避免可能破坏CV/AV优势的重大问题。这些模型还可以帮助汽车制造商开发基于车对车通信的速度和间隙管理的实时协议。

The highway system provides the most important mode of transportation for passengers and goods. Planning and design of the road infrastructure was a relatively simple task until the introduction of motorized vehicles in early 1900s, which required major changes in road design and construction. However, the development of road design guidelines to address arising safety problems was around half a century behind the actual need and was even later in Canada. Recent advancements of communication and computing technologies have put vehicle design on the path of significant revolutionary changes through the development and deployment of two separate new vehicle technologies: connected vehicles (CVs), where vehicles can communicate with each other and with the highway infrastructure, and autonomous vehicles (AVs) which are also known as self-driving vehicles. While some CV/AV technologies are already deployed on the road, estimates put wide-scale implementation as early as 2020-2025. Significant benefits including reduced congestion, reduced fuel consumption and vehicle emissions, improved mobility, and considerable reduction of collisions are expected not only with the full implementation of these technologies but also as they penetrate the market. Although CV/AV technologies are developed to operate on the existing road infrastructure, road modifications will certainly be required to realize the full benefits of these new technologies. ***This research proposal aims at investigating challenges that may arise as the vehicle fleet transitions from current technology to CV/AV and can negatively affect traffic safety. Specifically, the proposal has two objectives in relation to the interaction between a vehicle fleet with different technology levels and the geometric design of arterials and freeways. The first objective is to minimize speed disparity between individual vehicles in the mixed fleet on a specific highway element or from one element to the other. Such disparity is known to negatively impact traffic safety, and has been a criterion of highway design consistency evaluation. The second objective is to overcome challenges of vehicles entering or exiting freeways due to the ability of AVs to travel in platoons with minimal gaps and to optimize traffic mobility and safety at freeway ramp terminals. To achieve these objectives, the proposal expands design consistency and reliability analysis to highway design in a CV/AV environment including the transition period. Successful undertaking of the proposed research will help provincial ministries of transportation prepare for the new vehicle technologies and avoid significant problems that can undermine the benefits of CV/AVs. The models can also assist vehicle manufacturers develop real-time protocols for speed and gap management based on vehicle-to-vehicle communication.