Operationalizing connected and automated truck platooning on Canadian highway infrastructure for GHG emissions mitigation

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Over the next decades, truck freight transport is expected to undergo revolutionary changes with the deployment of 'Connected and Autonomous Vehicles' (CAV) technologies. This transformation is expected to reduce fuel consumption and GHG emissions at both the: 1) vehicle level: considering the cooperative operation of platooned trucks with reduced air drag; and 2) network level: adopting efficient use of highways through traffic congestion mitigation. While this is encouraging, the associated infrastructure planning and resources required to accommodate the expected pressures on our highway systems have fallen behind. To address this gap, the objective of the proposed project is to provide answers to the following two questions: 1) What truck platoon control strategies, traffic management, and infrastructure adaptations are needed to realize the full potential of CAV's emission benefits? 2) How much, realistically, CAV-enabled GHG abatement can be achieved by 2050? Addressing these questions requires a concerted effort from the policymakers, practitioners, and researchers from five distinct disciplines: Structures, Transportation, Aerodynamics, Optimization, and AI/Machine Learning, which compromise the research team and partnership members.As a result, the proposed project will generate experimental data and analytical tools to enable both infrastructure- and transportation-related solutions to the challenges of rolling out truck platooning on existing Canadian highway systems. These solutions include 1) formulation of infrastructure safety sensible regulations on platoon operation; 2) development of adaptation measures that will future-proof Canadian highway infrastructure to proliferate the CAV's GHG benefits to the national scale; 3) optimization of vehicle-level platoon control strategies and network-level traffic management to maximize GHG reductions. The proposed partnership will create a unique knowledge-sharing platform to assist policymakers and stakeholders in navigating the complex pathways for CAV technologies - allowing for transformational reductions in GHG emissions within Canadian road freight transportation.