Mode Switching Strategy and Transition Lane Design for Connected and Autonomous Driving Vehicle

Dedicated lanes can reduce the interaction between automated and connected vehicles and manual vehicles to improve traffic efficiency and safety. In the transition entry/exit of the dedicated lanes, the traffic throughout and emissions are greatly influenced by switching driving mode and merging into the target lane. Initially, this paper designs the transition lane as a combination of the buffer zone, detection zone, and mode-switching zone. Next, two designs of entry transition lanes and two exit transition lanes are put forward. Finally, two entry designs and two exit designs are compared separately. Additionally, the application effect of the driving mode switching strategy is evaluated. Results have shown that the proposed strategy improves traffic efficiency and reduces fuel consumption. Besides, the result indicates that the higher the market penetration rates, the better the efficiency improvement and emissions reduction.