Cooperative control strategy in merging zone accounting for vehicle platoon consisting of CAVs and HDVs: An analytical and simulation method

The merging section on the freeway often becomes an active bottleneck due to mandatory or discretionary lane-changing conflicts between vehicles. In the early stages of intelligent connected transportation development, Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs) will coexist with Human-Driven Vehicles (HDVs) in traffic. One possible approach to improving performance in merging traffic is the formation of a multi-vehicle platoon, where a CAV serves as the lead vehicle, guiding a specific number of HDVs behind it through vehicle-to-vehicle communication technology. This paper presents a simulation system with embedded coordinated strategies based on platoons to address lane-changing needs in mixed traffic flow. First, an improved Full Velocity Difference (FVD) model that considers the motion state of the rear vehicle to better capture the characteristics of lead CAVs within platoons is proposed. The impact of the maximum platoon size on stability is investigated through experiments and simulations. Second, a gap-matching strategy based on platooning is proposed by generating spatiotemporal trajectories and discussing their feasibility for merging. Third, a simulation platform using SUMO has been developed to validate the proposed algorithm. The optimal control strategies are determined with the goal of minimizing travel time. Finally, the optimization control strategy for the merging area is verified by analyzing the platoon’s merging trajectory and comparing it with an uncontrolled scenario. The advantages and applicability of the coordinated control strategies are studied and discussed in terms of throughput and average travel time improvement under different combinations of traffic demand.