Traffic Operational Impacts of Autonomous Vehicles on Urban Street using Simulation

There has been a development of autonomous vehicles in automotive industry. Autonomous vehicle uses an automated driving system therefore it does not need human for controlling the vehicle. This paper focuses on the operational impacts of autonomous vehicles under urban traffic conditions in Thailand. The selected roadway for this study is a section of Pracha Uthit Road between King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi and Pracha Uthit Soi 45, which has relatively high traffic volume. The study section consists of two junctions similar to a staggered intersection without traffic signal control. This study analyzes traffic operational performance of the study road section under base scenario and the scenario with all passenger vehicles replaced by autonomous vehicles using microscopic simulation software, PTV VISSIM. The results show that the roadway operational performance would be impacted by autonomous vehicles usage. The scenario with all passenger vehicles replaced by autonomous vehicles would result in the network's average speed increase of 21%, average queue length and vehicle delay reduction by 90% and 75%, respectively.