Optimal Lane Selection on Freeways within a Connected Vehicle Environment

Connected vehicle technologies enable and encourage cooperative driving behaviors, as well as provide potential benefits to improve mobility and safety. Using cutting-edge information and communication technology (ICT), various connected vehicle (CV) applications have been developed and are being prepared for deployment in transportation systems. This study proposes an in-vehicle optimal lane selection (OLS) application as one realizable and practical CV application. The OLS application advises the driver of the optimal lane to travel efficiently and minimize the number of lane changes. In order to choose the optimal lane, a utility function uses real-time data collected through connected technologies. This study implements and evaluates the proposed application using a microscopic traffic simulator, INTEGRATION. The simulation was conducted on a freeway network using various demand levels and market penetration rates (MPRs). Results show that the OLS application in the CV environment had better performance in lane allocation and a decrease of travel time compared to the lane-changing logic of the traditional transportation system.