Impact of road geometry on vehicle energy consumption

Abstract

It has been shown that road geometry has a great impact on overall energy consumption and emissions. Some roads connect traffic origins and destinations directly. On the other hand, some use winding, indirect routes. Indirect connections result in longer distances driven and increased fuel consumption. A similar effect is observed on congested roads and mountain roads with many changes in altitude. Therefore, we propose a framework to assess road networks based on energy consumption. This framework should take into consideration traffic volume, shares of vehicle classes, road geometry and energy needed for road operation and construction. It can be used to optimize energy consumption with efficient traffic management and to choose an optimum new road in the design phase. This is especially important as the energy consumed by the vehicles soon supersedes the energy needed for road construction.