This study focuses on the feasibility of commercial cloud services for connected vehicle (CV) applications in a Transportation Cyber-Physical Systems (TCPS) environment. TCPS implies that CVs, in addition to being connected with each other, communicates with the transportation and computing infrastructure to fulfill application requirements. The motivation of this study is to accelerate commercial cloud-based CV application development by presenting the lessons learned by implementing a CV mobility application using Amazon Web Services (AWS). The feasibility of the cloud-based CV application is assessed at three levels: (i) the development of a cloud-based TCPS architecture, (ii) the deployment of a cloud-based CV application using AWS, and (iii) the evaluation of the cloud-based CV application. We implemented this CV mobility application using a serverless cloud architecture and found that such a cloud-based TCPS environment could meet the permissible delay limits of CV mobility applications. Commercial cloud services, as an integral part of TCPS, could reduce costs associated with establishing and maintaining vast computing infrastructure for supporting CV applications. As the CV penetration levels on the surface transportation systems increase significantly over the next several years, scaling the backend infrastructure to support such applications is a critical issue. This study shows how commercial cloud services could automatically scale the backend infrastructure to meet the rapidly changing demands of real-world CV applications. Through real-world experiments, we demonstrate how commercial cloud services along with serverless cloud architecture could advance the transportation digital infrastructure for supporting connected mobility applications in a TCPS environment.

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In an internet-of-things (IoT) environment, cloud computing is emerging as a technologically feasible and economically viable solution for supporting real-time and nonreal-time connected vehicle (CV) applications due to its unlimited storage, enormous computing capabilities, and cost advantage, i.e., cloud computing costs less than owning such systems. However, maintaining cybersecurity is a major challenge in cloud-supported CV applications as it requires CVs and various transportation or non-transportation services to exchange data with the cloud via multiple wired and wireless communication networks, such as long-term evolution (LTE) and Wi-Fi. In this paper, we review the cybersecurity requirements of cloud-supported CV applications, such as confidentiality, integrity, availability, authentication, accountability, and privacy. Our review also identifies the associated cybersecurity challenges that might impact cloudsupported CV applications and corresponding solutions to these challenges. In addition, we present future research opportunities to prevent and mitigate cybersecurity issues in cloud computing for CV-related applications.

An adaptive signal control system (ASCS) can adjust signal timings in real time based on traffic demands. The operational benefits of ASCS vary depending on the type of ASCS, corridor characteristics, and geographical area. This paper evaluates the operational performance of 11 ASCS corridors located throughout South Carolina. These corridors are operated using SynchroGreen, one of several types of ASCS, developed by TrafficWare. Based on the operational analysis, it is found that when SynchroGreen is operational, it reduces the travel time on the corridor by an average of 6.4% and improves travel time reliability by an average of 31.4% compared with when the conventional traffic signal control system (e.g., pre-timed and actuated signal control) is operational. SynchroGreen reduces travel time on a corridor on average 61% of the time during a day and on average 77% of the time during peak periods. Additionally, SynchroGreen improves travel time reliability on average 53% of the time during a day and on average 52% of the time during peak periods. The operational effectiveness of SynchroGreen in reducing travel time and improving travel time reliability is consistent in both directions on an hourly basis for eight corridors and five corridors, respectively. Lastly, SynchroGreen is found to produce greater operational benefits by reducing travel time if the average speed of a corridor is lower than or equal to 35 mph and the number of signals on a corridor is more than 10.

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