Traffic Management for Connected and Automated Vehicles on Urban Corridors - Distributing Take-Over Requests and Assigning Safe Spots

Abstract

In light of the increasing trend towards vehicle connectivity and automation, there will be areas and situations on the roads where high automation can be granted, and others where it is not allowed or not possible. These are termed Transition Areas. Without proper traffic management (TM), such areas may lead to vehicles issuing take-over requests (TORs), which in turn can trigger transitions of control (ToCs), or even minimum-risk manoeuvres (MRMs) where a vehicle can come to a full stop in a safe spot. In this respect, the TransAID Horizon 2020 project develops and demonstrates TM procedures and protocols to enable smooth coexistence of automated, connected, and conventional vehicles, with the goal of avoiding ToCs and MRMs, or at least postponing/accommodating them. This paper investigates how TM can successfully assist connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) when they are approaching no automated driving zones (No-AD zone). Our simulation results indicate that a combined approach for distributing TORs and assigning safe spots significantly improves traffic efficiency and safety for such mixed autonomy situations in urban areas.