Motorway Gap Distribution Analysis for Designing Dedicated Connected-and-Automated-Vehicle Lanes

Abstract

This study addresses the design of exits for dedicated Connected-and-Automated-Vehicle (CAV) lanes. Because vehicles from such lanes have to merge with the adjacent normal lane with Human-Driven-Vehicles (HDVs), the exit locations must be carefully determined according to the HDV gap distribution. Therefore, this study aims to understand merging potential by analyzing HDV gap distributions along motorway sections. For this, the “available percentage” is defined as the percentage of gaps longer than the assumed critical gap. By analyzing the data collected on the Hanshin Expressway in Japan, we found that the available percentage differs by road geometry, especially during free-flow conditions.