2022 Volume 2022 Issue 1 Pages 61-66
Merging on expressways is one particular use case in which automated vehicle controls are difficult to achieve, as the vehicle must merge by selecting and moving into a space between other vehicles that are being driven at high speeds on the main lane. In particular, expressways in urban areas, including the Tokyo Metropolitan Expressway, provide little distance to merge. As such, vehicles must merge into gaps between other vehicles on the main lane after accelerating to their speed in just a short merging area. We believed that smooth merging in this area could be realized by using a vehicle to infrastructure (V2I) communication system to share vehicle location information with automated vehicles to assist with their automated driving. In this study, we built concepts and evaluated system feasibility by using a simulator to test a "lane merging assistance system," assisting merging using a V2I communication system. Specifically, we acquired tracking data for actual traffic patterns based on the outbound Higashi Ikebukuro Entrance of the Metropolitan Expressway Route No. 5 Ikebukuro Line, and then developed a traffic flow simulator that recreated it. Using this simulator, we compared and analyzed the impact of changing merging assistance system factors such as communication and sensing area on the main lane traffic flow and merging vehicle behavior, both with and without assistance.
