COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS ON DEDICATED LANES FOR AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES ON EXPRESSWAYS

Abstract

In order to introduce automated vehicles into society, it is crucial to develop infrastructure that supports autonomous driving on the roads. However, to ensure widespread acceptance among road users, it is important to carefully evaluate the suitability of such projects. In this study, we conducted a thorough cost benefit analysis specifically focused on the creation of dedicated lanes for automated vehicles on expressways. The potential utility of the dedicated lanes is that users of automated vehicles could enjoy, such as the ability to multitask while traveling, thus minimizing time wasted during journeys, while it is worth noting that the dedicated lanes for autonomous vehicles occupy road space and reduce the traffic capacity available for human-driven vehicles, which should be regarded as a potential disutility. This trade-off between the utility and the disutility needs to be considered in the cost benefit analysis. The results of our analysis revealed that the cost-benefit ratio exceeded 1 for all sections of the Shin Tomei Expressway, regardless of the market penetration scenario for automated vehicles. On the other hands, on the Tomei Expressway, the occurrence of congestion-related losses exceeds the benefit of autonomous vehicles when the market penetration rate is low. Nonetheless, in all sections of the Tomei Expressway, tangible benefits were observed if the proportion of automated vehicles on the road exceeded 32%.