TRAFFIC CONGESTION REDUCTION AT TRAFFIC LIGHT INTERSECTIONS FOR TIME-SYNCHRONIZED AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

Traffic congestion relates to an excess of vehicles on a portion of the road at a particular time, and generates slower speeds, longer trip times, pollution and increased vehicular queueing. Traffic congestions at intersection areas are a significant problem in many cities around the world. One aspect which can be taken into consideration for road traffic optimization is the moment the vehicles accelerate at traffic lights. Because most automobiles implement the standard AUTOSAR (Automotive Open System Architecture), the paper presents in the beginning a synopsis of the functionality and usability of the AUTOSAR time synchronization concept which allows each individual vehicle to have all the electronic control units time-synchronized within it. Therefore, each vehicle would be able to activate in an optimized way the acceleration feature. The MATLAB Simulink simulation results illustrate what is expected from the implementation of the concept in such a scenario: combining the advanced driver-assistance systems with the current concept would seem beneficial in reducing traffic congestion in traffic light intersections for autonomous vehicles by taking advantage of the knowledge of the precise time when the lights will change.