HEADWAY SAFETY POLICY FOR AUTOMATED HIGHWAY OPERATIONS

The maximum capacity, cost, and safety of an automated highway sytstem are largely dependent on the selected headway policy, i.e., the specification of a minimum acceptable headway (as a function of speed) for mainline operations. A policy, designed to avert collisions due to "reasonable" lead-car decelerations, is presented and evaluated in the context of achieving high capacity (greater than equivalent to 3.600 vehicle/lane/hr) over a range of typical highway speeds -- 13.5 to 30 m/s (30.2 to 67.2 mi/h). This involved a detailed analysis to determine both the relationships between, and the requirements on, the seven parameters which are embedded in this policy. These pertain to systems-level operations, the capabilities of a vehicle's automatic control system, and the vehicle/roadway interface. The trade-offs associated with safety, capacity, and cost (in the form of required future development efforts) are identified, and three general approaches to selecting parameters for an operational system are specified.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/00189545
• Corporate Authors:

  Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

  3 Park Avenue, 17th Floor
  New York, NY  United States  10016-5997
• Authors:
  • Fenton, R E
• Publication Date: 1979-2

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: p. 22-28
• Serial:
  • IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
  • Volume: VT2
  • Issue Number: 1
  • Publisher: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
  • ISSN: 0018-9545
  • Serial URL: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/mostRecentIssue.jsp?punumber=25

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automated highway systems; Control; Costs; Headways; Highway capacity; Highway safety; Highway traffic control; Highways; Mathematical models; Traffic speed; Transportation policy; Vehicles
• Old TRIS Terms: Headway policy
• Subject Areas: Finance; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Policy; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00196293
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Engineering Index
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Sep 15 1979 12:00AM