Unconventional Arterial Intersection Designs under Connected and Automated Vehicle Environment: A Survey

TL;DR

This survey explores how unconventional arterial intersection designs (UAIDs) can improve traffic flow and safety, especially when integrated with connected and automated vehicle (CAV) technology, which can mitigate driver confusion and enhance adoption.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive review of UAID studies, implementations, and intersection control schemes, highlighting the potential of CAV technology to facilitate UAID deployment.

Findings

UAIDs can reduce traffic delays and conflicts.

CAV technology can address driver confusion issues.

Significant benefits of UAID and CAV integration during early CAV rollout.

Abstract

Signalized intersections are major sources of traffic delay and collision within the modern transportation system. Conventional signal optimization has revealed its limitation in improving the mobility and safety of an intersection. Unconventional arterial intersection designs (UAIDs) are able to improve the performance of an intersection by reducing phases of a signal cycle. Furthermore, they can fundamentally alter the number and the nature of the conflicting points. However, the driver's confusion, as a result of the unconventional geometric designs, remains one of the major barriers for the widespread adoption of UAIDs. Connected and Automated Vehicle (CAV) technology has the potential to overcome this barrier by eliminating the driver's confusion of a UAID. Therefore, UAIDs can play a significant role in transportation networks in the near future. In this paper, we surveyed UAID studies and implementations. In addition, we present an overview of intersection control schemes with the emergence of CAV and highlight the opportunity rises for UAID with the CAV technology. It is believed that the benefits gained from deploying UAIDs in conjunction with CAV are significant during the initial rollout of CAV under low market penetration.