Validation of driving behaviour as a step towards the investigation of Connected and Automated Vehicles by means of driving simulators

Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs) are likely to become an integral part of the traffic stream within the next few years. Their presence is expected to greatly modify mobility behaviours, travel demands and habits, traffic flow characteristics, traffic safety and related external impacts. Tools and methodologies are needed to evaluate the effects of CAVs on traffic streams, as well as the impact on traffic externalities. This is particularly relevant under mixed traffic conditions, where human-driven vehicles and CAVs will interact. Understanding technological aspects (e.g. communication protocols, control algorithms, etc.) is crucial for analysing the impact of CAVs, but the modification induced in human driving behaviours by the presence of CAVs is also of paramount importance. For this reason, the definition of appropriate CAV investigations methods and tools represents a key (and open) issue. One of the most promising approaches for assessing the impact of CAVs is operator in the loop simulators, since having a real driver involved in the simulation represents an advantageous approach. However, the behaviour of the driver in the simulator must be validated and this paper discusses the results of some experiments concerning car-following behaviour. These experiments have included both driving simulators and an instrumented vehicle, and have observed the behaviours of a large sample of drivers, in similar conditions, in different experimental environments. Similarities and differences in driver behaviour will be presented and discussed with respect to the observation of one important quantity of car-following, the maintained spacing

Comparing Signal Setting Design Methods through emissions and fuel consumption performance indicators

In order to address the Signal Setting Design at urban level two main approaches may be pursued: the coordination and the synchronisation approaches depending on the steps considered for the optimisation of decision variables (two steps vs. one step). Furthermore, in terms of objective functions mono-criterion or multi-criteria may be adopted. In this paper the coordination approach is implemented considering the multi-criteria optimisation at single junctions and mono-criterion optimisation at network level whereas the synchronisation is implemented considering the mono-criterion optimisation. The main purpose of the paper is the evaluation of the performances of two strategies not only considering indicators such as the total delay, the queue length etc. but also considering other indicators such as the emissions and the fuel consumption. The methodological framework is composed by three stages: (i) the decision variables (green timings and offsets) computation through optimisation methods; (ii) the implementation of optimal signal settings in a microscopic traffic flow simulator (“Simulation of Urban MObility”-SUMO); (iii) the estimation of emissions and fuel consumption indicators

ITS nei trasporti stradali - Tecnologie, metodi ed applicazioni

Obiettivo del testo è fornire delle basi generali sulla telematica nei trasporti - con tecnologie, metodi ed applicazioni in ambito prevalentemente stradale - utili alla comprensione dei sistemi di trasporto stradali interconnessi, spesso riconosciuti come ITS. ITS, acronimo di Intelligent Transport Systems, è una sigla entrata ormai nell'uso comune ed utilizzata - come termine - anche nella recente normativa europea e nazionale. Il testo, unico alla data di edizione nel suo genere in Italia, rappresenta uno strumento d'introduzione ed approfondimento per la didattica, la ricerca, l'applicazione nel settore: è destinato a tutti coloro che, nell'ambito dei sistemi ed impianti di trasporto, si occupano della loro progettazione, collaudo, manutenzione e gestion

Evaluating the effects of information reliability on travellers’ route choice

This paper analyses travellers' behaviour with respect to route choice in a context where an Advanced Traveller Information System (ATIS) is in place. ATIS are important applications in the field of intelligent transportation systems (ITS). However, the practical impact of ATIS is still a matter for debate, and identification of expected route choice behaviour under ATIS is one of the main ways to assess their practical importance. Travellers' choices are frequently explored by means of stated preference (SP) approaches. In this paper we discuss some issues to be addressed when an SP survey is carried out, with particular reference to cases where a repeated choice approach is employed in the survey. Our analysis concerns an application of the SP approach in a pilot study aimed at identifying the effects of ATIS accuracy on travellers’ compliance with information. This paper aims to make two major contributions. First of all, empirical analyses based on proper indicators and statistical tests are suggested in order to evaluate how the collected data have to be handled in order to eliminate transient route-choice observations. These are due to the warm-up phase inherently associated with the survey method adopted, dealing with repeated choices. Secondly, we analyse (stationary) route choice in order to assess the effects of information reliability (and the kind of information) on both route choice and compliance