On the Flow Capacity of Automated Highways

J. G. Bender and R. E. Fenton
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J. G. Bender: The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
R. E. Fenton: The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

Transportation Science, 1970, vol. 4, issue 1, 52-63

Abstract: Virtually all proposed systems for highway automation have at least one mode in common---steady-state car following. The nature of this mode is extremely important, as it can determine the upper limit of flow capacity of an automated highway. This limit is explored for a linear headway controller, and a fundamental relation between the effective vehicle response time and the permissible traffic stream density is obtained. The required intervehicular spacing with a linear headway controller is shown to be proportional to the effective vehicle time constant for small-signal inputs; thus, one can achieve small spacings and high flow rates by reducing this parameter to 1 sec or less. However, the vehicle is then highly responsive to small changes in lead-vehicle speed---possibly resulting in both passenger discomfort and poor fuel economy. These shortcomings can be avoided by using a linear velocity controller for automatic car following.

Date: 1970
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