Performance Evaluation of Cruise-Controlled Vehicles on a Macroscopic Scale

In this paper, we study the performance of a class of cruise-controllers for automated vehicles on a macroscopic scale. We first show that the solution of the corresponding second-order macroscopic model can be approximated by the solution of a nonlinear heat-type equation. To study the behavior induced on the macroscopic model by the first-order approximation, we derive a conservative finite-difference scheme that respects the corresponding entropy conditions. Finally, a traffic simulation scenario and a comparison with the Lighthill-Witham-Richards (LWR) model are given, illustrating the benefits of the use of cruise-controlled vehicles.