Lane-free Artificial-Fluid Concept for Vehicular Traffic

TL;DR

This paper introduces a lane-free, vehicle nudging traffic paradigm for connected and automated vehicles, aiming to optimize traffic flow and safety by actively engineering vehicular movement as an artificial fluid.

Contribution

It proposes a novel lane-free traffic concept combining vehicle nudging and flow engineering, enabling active design of traffic flow in the era of CAVs.

Findings

Preliminary simulations show smoother traffic flow.

Increased roadway capacity demonstrated.

Enhanced safety features suggested.

Abstract

A novel paradigm for vehicular traffic in the era of connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) is proposed, which includes two combined principles: lane-free traffic and vehicle nudging, whereby vehicles are "pushing" (from a distance, using communication or sensors) other vehicles in front of them. This traffic paradigm features several advantages, including: smoother and safer driving; increase of roadway capacity; and no need for the anisotropy restriction. The proposed concept provides, for the first time since the automobile invention, the possibility to actively design (rather than describe) the traffic flow characteristics in an optimal way, i.e. to engineer the future CAV traffic flow as an efficient artificial fluid. Options, features, application domains and required research topics are discussed. Preliminary simulation results illustrate some basic features of the concept.