Cost/Benefit Analysis of Fuel-Efficient Speed Control Using Signal Phasing and Timing (SPaT) Data: Evaluation for Future Connected Corridor Deployment

Abstract

The objective of this methodology is to refine the preliminary results from previous work (11% fuel savings for one vehicle, one intersection) to an entire corridor of SPaT signals, with different CV market penetration, and with driver awareness of fuel savings benefits. The research will proceed in three parts. First, several vehicles will be instrumented with DSRC receivers and GPS tracking to record SPaT data and the vehicle trajectories together. Offline, the project team will optimize the speed and powertrain control based on recorded SPaT data, using the recorded vehicle trajectories to identify the constraints of traffic flow. A living lab consisting of a GM car engine loaded by a transient hydrostatic dynamometer will be used to measure the fuel consumption with and without speed control. Second, the project team will conduct traffic flow simulations to study the impacts of higher market penetration on the overall fuel benefits, including the benefits to legacy vehicles which unintentionally use SPaT based speed controls by following CVs. Third, network models will be used to predict changes in route choices as drivers recognize the benefits of fuel savings in the route utility. The numerical predictions of fuel savings will be combined into cost/benefit analyses to inform MnDOT on the future deployment of SPaT on other corridors.