Traffic Control System Preventing Deceleration Shockwaves
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing traffic control systems are ineffective in suppressing or relieving traffic congestion, as they fail to address the root causes of congestion, such as vehicle groups forming at the head of a queue, which lead to deceleration shockwaves and increased traffic volume.
Innovation Solution
A traffic control system that identifies vehicles at the head of a group and provides drivers with information on the formation of these groups, urging them to perform operations like acceleration or lane changes to prevent group growth, using a combination of vehicle and infrastructure systems to measure and communicate traffic data and provide real-time feedback to drivers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If drivers maintain steady running speeds and normal following distances, then traffic flows smoothly, but vehicle groups form at the head of queues causing deceleration shockwaves and traffic congestion
Solution Approach 1:
The system provides advance warning to drivers before they reach the head of a vehicle group, urging them to take preliminary actions (accelerate or change lanes) to prevent forming a bottleneck. This preliminary intervention stops the deceleration shockwave from forming in the first place, resolving the contradiction between smooth traffic flow and preventing congestion-causing behaviors.
Solution Approach 2:
The infrastructure device detects vehicle group formations and provides real-time feedback to drivers through in-vehicle displays. This feedback loop allows drivers to adjust their behavior dynamically based on actual traffic conditions, preventing them from inadvertently creating deceleration shockwaves while maintaining overall traffic flow efficiency.
2Productivity
If drivers are urged to accelerate or change lanes to suppress vehicle group formation, then traffic congestion is reduced, but driver workload and potential safety risks increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies selective urging only to specific drivers who are at risk of forming vehicle groups, rather than all drivers. The urging is proportional to the detected risk level, providing just enough intervention to prevent congestion without unnecessarily complicating the operations of drivers who are already maintaining safe following distances.
3Object-generated harmful factors
If the infrastructure device provides real-time information to all drivers, then vehicle group formation is suppressed, but system complexity and information processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The infrastructure device provides targeted information only to drivers who are at risk of forming vehicle groups, rather than broadcasting to all drivers. This localized approach suppresses harmful vehicle group formation while minimizing system complexity by avoiding unnecessary communication with drivers who don't need intervention.
4Object-generated harmful factors
If drivers increase following distances to prevent vehicle group formation, then congestion is reduced, but road capacity and throughput decrease
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of requiring drivers to continuously maintain increased following distances (which would reduce road capacity), the system provides preliminary warnings that enable drivers to take intermittent corrective actions. This allows drivers to maintain normal following distances most of the time, preserving road capacity, while still preventing vehicle group formation through timely interventions.
Data Source
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AI summary
A traffic control system provides a driver of a vehicle (101), which runs in a predetermined running state among vehicles running on a road (50), with information on the suppression of traffic congestion on the road. The predetermined running state is, for example, a running state constituting a cause of traffic congestion on the road. The information may be provided by urging the driver to perform a driving operation of at least one of acceleration and lane change.