A Freeway On-Ramps BLVD-Based Virtual Platoon Control for Mixed Traffic: A Cyber-Physical Perspective

Virtual car-following technology is a more fine-grained way to allocate space resources in traffic conflict zones(such as intersection, on-ramp conflict zone). In order to ensure safety, the vehicle should keep a certain safety distance from the preceding vehicle while following the preceding vehicle. However, when two vehicles from different lanes are too close in the virtual platoon, applying virtual platoon car-following algorithm might cause unnecessary break, which will adversely affect its actual rear car and even rear-end. In this paper, we proposed a connected and automated driving vehicle (CAV) control algorithm to optimize the traffic situation of the mixed traffic in the merging zone. A modified virtual platoon control algorithm considering the predecessor and the successor to optimize the traffic situation of the mixed traffic in the merging zone is proposed. Numerical simulation results illustrated our method could be applied in mixed traffic situation. Impact of penetration rate is also be researched.