Developing Analysis, Modeling, and Simulation (AMS) Tools for Connected and Automated Vehicle (CAV) Applications

FHWA Saxton Lab Task Order 22

Connected and Automated Vehicle (CAV) technologies offer potentially transformative societal impacts, including significant mobility, safety, and environmental benefits. Traffic analysis, modeling, and simulation (AMS) tools provide an efficient means to evaluate transportation improvement projects prior to deployment. However, current AMS tools are not well-suited for evaluating CAV applications due to their inability to represent vehicle connectivity, communication, and automated driving features. Many independent researchers have been working on models of CAV systems and have published widely divergent findings from models based on widely divergent assumptions. There is a need for a consistent set of models based on the best available data and the most accurate possible representations of the behaviors of drivers of conventional vehicles as well as CAVs, in order to produce realistic and believable predictions of CAV impacts. To meet these needs, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) sponsored this project to 1) develop AMS models for the most prominent CAV applications; 2) incorporate these models into existing AMS simulation tools to improve the state-of-the-practice; and 3) conduct real-world case studies (practical implementation scenarios and real-world transportation networks) for the most prominent CAV applications in order to better understand their impacts and deployment strategies/methods. This repository supports the first two objectives. Case study reports were published separately.