IMPACTS OF AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES ON THE URBAN FUNDAMENTAL DIAGRAM

In recent years, self-driving cars are being introduced to streets, which generated significant attention and discussion. The widespread adoption of autonomous vehicles (AV) brings changes in several fields. One of the most exciting changes is presented by the effect that driverless cars bring to the well-known traditional traffic model, the Macroscopic Fundamental Diagram (MFD). This is a key issue as MFD is a basic model for strategic traffic planning and also for real-time traffic control. In this paper therefore the impacts of autonomous vehicles that are relevant to the urban MFD are investigated through traffic simulation. The paper seeks the answer to a basic question, i.e. how the different percentage of autonomous vehicles among traditional vehicles and the autonomous driving levels influence the urban MFD. A detailed simulation study was carried with SUMO (microscopic traffic simulation software) in an artificial grid network.