Research Article

Anticipatory adaptive cruise control (AACC) for enhanced performance in mixed traffic flow

Adaptive cruise control (ACC) systems improve traffic efficiency by optimizing acceleration and deceleration, maintaining steady speeds, and reducing unnecessary braking, leading to smoother flow, lower fuel consumption, and reduced emissions. This paper introduces anticipatory adaptive cruise control (AACC), which enhances ACC through vehicle-to-vehicle communication, adjusting speeds based on multiple vehicles ahead. The study examines the effects of AACC in mixed traffic environments using MIXEM, a MATLAB microsimulation, modelling car following behavior of both manually-driven and AACC-equipped vehicles. Simulations cover various scenarios, including signalized intersections and fixed bottlenecks. Results show AACC halved clearance times at intersections and transformed traffic from wide moving jams to synchronized flow, altering the fundamental diagram. AACC effectively reverses capacity drops, increases discharge flow rates, and shifts the point of critical density, demonstrating its potential as a traffic regulator by promoting optimal driving behavior among nearby manually-driven vehicles.