Simulation and organisation of future lane-free traffic
Final Report Abstract
Rapidly increasing transportation demand and the limited capacity of transportation networks have led to traffic congestion, bringing forth a range of problems, including the deterioration of traffic infrastructure capacity, prolonged travel times, and an increase in global CO2 emissions and energy consumption. While strategies like encouraging mode shift and implementing demand management measures are valuable, road-based motorized traffic is still the most useful means of transportation for many people and goods. The construction of new infrastructure is costly and environmentally questionable; therefore, most research focuses on traffic management strategies, exploiting the existing network infrastructure. The vehicle industry has evolved significantly in recent years. Vehicles with different levels of automation and connectivity are becoming the norm today. It is anticipated that in the coming decades, Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs) will be the dominant type of vehicles. This offers not only convenience for individual drivers but also the potential to manage traffic more effectively and reduce congestion. The concept of lane-free traffic (LFT) has been recently introduced, which suggests a CAV- dominant environment renders the need for parallel lanes on roads obsolete. These were initially introduced to improve safety and facilitate manual driving tasks; however, they led to considerable lateral capacity loss. LFT allows vehicles to drive at any arbitrary lateral location on the road. This freedom potentially leads to the exploitation of the whole road's lateral capacity and, thus, significant increases in traffic throughput. This project was one of the pioneering works investigating the potential of LFT in both motorway and urban networks. To this end, the focus was on designing control strategies for CAVs and evaluating them in the developed simulation environment. We also considered the safe integration of vulnerable road users (VRUs), such as pedestrians and cyclists, in the urban network. Research in motorway networks demonstrated that the capacity can be more than twice that of conventional lane-based traffic. This capacity increase is very promising as it mitigates congestion and can serve the peak traffic demand of vehicles without causing delays. This capacity increase not only eliminates the need for more road construction/extension but also suggests narrowing the current roads and using the reclaimed space for other road users or green areas. Results from simulations of small VRU-friendly urban intersections showed that with LFT, vehicle capacities can be maintained or even increased while simultaneously reducing the width of streets dedicated to vehicles and massively decreasing delays for vehicles and VRUs alike. This advantage of LFT could, therefore, be used to reduce the spatial footprint of vehicle infrastructure, rededicating it to pedestrian and cyclist infrastructure, public transport, green space, and other uses.
Publications
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A twolayer approach for vehicular flocking in lane-free environment. In 11th Triennal Symposium on Transportation Analysis (TRISTAN).
Rostami-Shahrbabaki, M., Weikl, S., Akbarzadeh, M. & Bogenberger, K.
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Driving Strategy for Vehicles in Lane-Free Traffic Environment Based on Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient and Artificial Forces. IFAC-PapersOnLine, 55(14), 14-21.
Berahman, Mehran; Rostmai-Shahrbabaki, Majid & Bogenberger, Klaus
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Lane-Free Traffic: History and State of the Art. 2022 IEEE 25th International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSC), 1037-1042. IEEE.
Sekeran, Maya; Rostami-Shahrbabaki, Majid; Syed, Arslan Ali; Margreiter, Martin & Bogenberger, Klaus
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A Novel Potential Line Strategy for Autonomous Vehicle Control in Lane-Free Traffic. 2023 IEEE 26th International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSC), 4173-4180. IEEE.
Zhang, Hanwen; Rostami-Shahrbabaki, Majid; Troullinos, Dimitrios & Bogenberger, Klaus
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Increasing the capacity of a lane-free beltway for connected and automated vehicles using potential lines. In 102nd Annual Meeting Transportation Research Board (open access).
Rostami-Shahrbabaki, M., Zhang, H., Sekeran, M. & Bogenberger, K.
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Integrated Intersection Control for Lane-Free Connected and Automated Driving. 2023 8th International Conference on Models and Technologies for Intelligent Transportation Systems (MT-ITS), 1-7. IEEE.
Stueger, Philipp N.; Malcolm, Patrick; Niels, Tanja & Bogenberger, Klaus
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Modeling Vehicle Flocking in Lane-Free Automated Traffic. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2677(9), 499-512.
Rostami-Shahrbabaki, Majid; Weikl, Simone; Niels, Tanja & Bogenberger, Klaus
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Multi-Task Lane- Free Driving Strategy for Connected and Automated Vehicles: A Multi-Agent Deep Reinforcement Learning Approach.
Berahman, M., Rostami-Shahrbabaki, M. & Bogenberger, K.
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Lane-free intersection control for connected automated vehicles prioritizing vulnerable road users. Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, 170, 104918.
Malcolm, Patrick & Bogenberger, Klaus
