Investigating Benefits of IntelliDrive in Freeway Operations: Lane Changing Advisory Case Study

IntelliDrive, the integration of vehicles and the infrastructure through wireless communication, has generated great interest in the transportation community. It is widely expected that IntelliDrive will support significantly improved transportation operations. However, there have been few studies investigating (1) how IntelliDrive will be used to improve operations, and (2) how to estimate expected benefits of IntelliDrive operations applications. In this study, the research team investigated the application of IntelliDrive to address merging conflicts created by freeway on-ramps. Although merging conflicts contribute significantly to freeway congestion, transportation engineers have limited options with existing traffic surveillance and management tools. IntelliDrive offers the potential for more active management of the surface transportation system, providing capabilities that may be of significant benefit in ramp management. In this research, a lane changing advisory algorithm was developed to explore the potential of IntelliDrive in improving freeway ramp management. Utilizing new IntelliDrive capabilities (highly detailed individual vehicular data and personalized advisory information provision), the proposed algorithm attempts to reduce merging conflicts by encouraging early mainline freeway lane changes to create more space in ramp merging areas. An evaluation of the algorithm was conducted by using a PARAMICS microscopic simulation model of a heavily traveled freeway network in Orange County, California for morning peak hours. The results have revealed that IntelliDrive has the potential to increase vehicle miles traveled by up to 4.3% and reduce vehicle hours traveled by up to 4.6%, which resulted in up to 9.3% higher average speeds, in the best case. However, the results also indicated that, to achieve the greatest possible benefits, the proposed algorithm requires very high compliance of drivers and near full deployment of IntelliDrive. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)TE.1943-5436.0000407. (C) 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.