Optimal separation between vehicles for maximum through a light signal

TL;DR

This study investigates the optimal vehicle spacing at traffic signals using traffic flow models, revealing that optimal separation depends on vehicle length and driver behavior but not on system sensitivity.

Contribution

It introduces an analysis of optimal vehicle separation considering driver aggressiveness and vehicle length within traffic flow models.

Findings

Optimal separation is independent of system sensitivity.

Optimal separation depends on driver behavior (aggressive or careful).

Optimal separation is proportional to vehicle length.

Abstract

The traffic flow through a light signal is explored by using the optimal velocity model and its improvement known as full velocity differences model. The simulations consider a single line of identical cars, equally spaced, and with no obstacles after the signal crossing line. The flow dependence on vehicle's characteristics, as it's length and sensitivity, are studied. Also, the influence of the attitude of drivers (careful or aggressive) has been used as parameters on the present work. It was found that the optimal separation between cars, defined as the distance that allows the system to carry the higher number of vehicles through the signal crossing line, is independent of the sensitivity of the system, but it does depend on the aggressive or careful characteristic of the drivers. The optimal separation is also found to be proportional to the length of the cars for a system of identical vehicles.