V2X-Based Cooperative On-Ramp Merging Control Strategy with In-Lane and Cross-Lane Platoons

Highway on-ramp merging zones constitute critical bottlenecks for traffic flow optimization. Vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication and connected automated vehicle (CAV) provide new solutions improving merging efficiency and safety. In this study, the virtual mapping method is used to organize vehicles in the merging area into in-lane and cross-lane platoons. To better accommodate the control objectives and communication conditions of different platoons, this study designs separate in-lane and cross-lane control models and demonstrates their string stability. In the in-lane control model, the safety potential field is integrated into the information weights, effectively mitigating the influence of unsafe vehicles on the following vehicles. In the cross-lane control model, the Variable Time Headway Policy Based on Adaptive Dynamical Sliding Mode Control (ADSMC-VTH Policy) is proposed, allowing vehicles to flexibly adjust headway when facing virtually mapped vehicles that suddenly appear. This study explores the application of the proposed strategy in a mixed traffic environment through a preemptive control method. Numerical simulations show that the proposed strategy enhances stability, efficiency, and safety compared to baseline methods, achieving 23.5% and 26.8% average reductions in fuel consumption and emissions in pure CAV and mixed traffic environments, respectively.