Traffic regulation via individually controlled automated vehicles: a cell transmission model approach

The advent of automated, infrastructure-controlled vehicles offers new opportunities for traffic control. Even when the number of controlled vehicles is small, they can significantly affect the surrounding traffic. One way of regulating traffic is by using the automated vehicles as controlled moving bottlenecks. We present an extension of the cell transmission model that includes the influence of moving bottlenecks, consistently with the corresponding PDE traffic model. Based on this model, a control strategy is derived for traffic jam resolution. The strategy is tested in simulations, and shown to reduce the average travel time of surrounding vehicles, while also helping dissipate the traffic jam faster and ensuring the controlled vehicle avoids it.