A Separation Strategy for Connected and Automated Vehicles: Utilizing Traffic Light Information for Reducing Idling at Red Lights and Improving Fuel Economy

Vehicle platoon composed of a group of connected and automated vehicles (CAVs), a coordinated movement strategy, has been widely proposed to address a range of traffic problems. The motion of vehicle in the platoon passing signalized intersections can significantly affect their total trip time and fuel consumption. With the development of advanced communication technology such as V2V and V2I, CAVs can automatically obtain and use the upcoming traffic light timing information to find optimal velocity profiles that can avoid idling at red lights. This paper proposes an optimal velocity control and separation strategy for the platoon to minimize the trip time and reduce fuel consumption as much as possible. Simulation results show that with the introduction of the velocity control and separation strategy, the total trip time and fuel consumption decrease by 19.2% and 18.1%, respectively. Thus the effectiveness of the proposed strategy is demonstrated.