Effect of human-driven, autonomous, and connected autonomous vehicles on geometric highway design
Date
2025
Authors
Khan, Zawar Hussain
Ali, Faryal
Altamimi, Ahmed B.
Gulliver, Thomas Aaron
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Alexandria Engineering Journal
Abstract
Highway geometric design plays a crucial role in maintaining traffic safety and operational efficiency. The number of Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) and Connected Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs) on highway networks has increased in recent years. In this study, a traffic model is developed from a spring-mass system theory perspective to investigate traffic dynamics on horizontal highway curves. The Intelligent Driver (ID) model is based on a constant exponent δ to characterize driver response, which is unrealistic. By utilizing a spring-mass system analogy, the proposed model provides a more accurate and realistic representation of traffic. This model is used to evaluate the behavior of Human-driven Vehicles (HVs), AVs, and CAVs over a 1300 m circular road. The results obtained show that CAVs have better performance compared to HVs and AVs on horizontal curves, leading to better understanding of safety and efficiency on roads. Further, CAVs improve energy efficiency and emission reduction, contributing to effective and sustainable transportation systems. In addition, the results indicate that the proposed model has better performance compared to the ID model.
Description
Keywords
spring-mass system, horizontal curves, geometric design, microscopic traffic model, human-driven vehicles (HVs), autonomous vehicles (AVs), connected autonomous vehicles (CAVs), #journal article, Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium (PCIC), UN SDG 13: Climate Action
Citation
Khan, Z. H., Ali, F., Altamimi, A. B., & Gulliver, T. A. (2025). Effect of human-driven, autonomous, and connected autonomous vehicles on geometric highway design. Alexandria Engineering Journal, 127, 1073–1080. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2025.07.013