Reducing congestion in obstructed highways with traffic data dissemination using Ad hoc vehicular networks

Abstract

Vehicle-to-vehicle communications can be used effectively for intelligent transport systems (ITSs) and location-aware services. The ability to disseminate information in an ad hoc fashion allows pertinent information to propagate faster through a network. In the realm of ITS, the ability to spread warning information faster and further is of great advantage to receivers. In this paper we propose and present a message-dissemination procedure that uses vehicular wireless protocols to influence vehicular flow, reducing congestion in road networks. The computational experiments we present show how a car-following model and lane-change algorithm can be adapted to react to the reception of information. This model also illustrates the advantages of coupling together with vehicular flow modelling tools and network simulation tools. Copyright © 2010 Thomas D. Hewer et al.