Hybrid Work Zone Information System with Portable Changeable Message Signs and Dedicated Short-Range Communication

Abstract

The future deployment of dedicated short-range communication (DSRC) technology requires that applications with their bases in DSRC be integrated with existing traffic management techniques so that vehicles not equipped with DSRC at the early stage of DSRC deployment can also reap the potential benefits of DSRC technology. A hybrid traffic information system was successfully developed; it combines DSRC technology and portable changeable message signs (PCMSs) for use in the work zone environment to improve traffic mobility and thereby driver safety. The developed system uses DSRC-based vehicle-to-infrastructure and vehicle-to-vehicle communication to acquire travel safety parameters, such as travel time (TT) and the starting location of congestion (SLoC), and to disseminate these parameters to DSRC-equipped vehicles and PCMSs, which are strategically placed along the roadside. Through the use of the DSRC-PCMS interface developed and demonstrated in this work, PCMSs can receive these travel safety parameters from nearby DSRC-equipped vehicles on the road through DSRC-based vehicle-to-vehicle communication, and display them for the drivers of vehicles that lack DSRC capability. Such a system can be useful during the early stage of DSRC deployment when DSRC market penetration is low. In addition, a rigorous analysis was conducted to investigate the minimum DSRC market penetration rate needed for successful functionality of the developed system with respect to both acquisition and dissemination of TT and SLoC. Through the use of a realistic traffic flow model, guidelines were developed to estimate a minimum DSRC penetration rate needed to deploy the developed system for a variety of traffic scenarios on a given work zone road.

Are work zones and connected automated vehicles ready for a harmonious coexistence? A scoping review and research agenda

“…The cellular internet communication allowed for a network-wide coverage but with limited latency [77]; however, as stated previously the recent 5G cellular technology promises for low latency and deserves further testing at WZ sites. The one well researched technology at WZs that provided a trade-off between coverage and latency is the DSRC as explored by Maitipe et al [62,63], Zaman et al [75], and Ibrahim et al [76]. In these studies, approaching drivers were provided with information regarding the expected travel time and congestion location (queue length upstream the WZ).…”

“…Additionally, the V2V back-and-forth message propagation will be halfway interrupted if no equipped-vehicle is found to receive and continue relaying the message. Ibrahim et al [76] proposed a model, along with user-friendly charts, that estimates the MPR needed for the DSRC-based V2I and V2V systems at WZs. The required MPR varies according to the desired information update frequency, DSRC range, and traffic flow rate.…”

Traffic Information System to Deliver In-Vehicle Messages on Predefined Routes: Use of Dedicated, Short-Range Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communication

“…Furthermore, the hopping algorithm confines the message broadcast to a predefined hopping route to ensure that only those vehicles that need the relevant information receive the message. Finally, the algorithm will avoid broadcast storms by ensuring that if more than one vehicle receives an information message at the same time, only one of those vehicles rebroadcasts it (17). If multiple vehicles compete to hop the message, the hop timing control procedure will resolve the contention and ensure that only one of those vehicles rebroadcasts the message.…”

“…Several research studies have proposed systems and algorithms to accomplish these tasks (8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17). One critical aspect of these proposed studies has been to convey the information message from a distant roadside unit or from another vehicle (usually event driven) to a remote vehicle of concern.…”

“…However, none of these hopping algorithms was able to route the message to a specific route. The authors' earlier proposed method suggested a hopping algorithm that used DSRCbased V2V communication on a predefined route, but that method would not have been able to keep the hopped message on a desired road if sharp turns were present on that route (16,17). Additionally, that method required each vehicle or hopping node to modify the…”