Automated Bus Rapid Transit System Development with 3D Simulations

Abstract

Automated Bus Rapid Transit (ABRT) is an emerging solution of smart transportation since it has the advantages of convenient transportation and alleviating traffic congestion brought by Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) while avoiding huge soft-ware/hardware construction costs. However, the characteristics of using dedicated lanes and frequent bus schedules pose the challenges to the development of self-driving technologies for ABRT. For example, driving from a dedicated lane to a non-dedicated lane encounters the merge of traffic flows, which makes it hard to drive safely and efficiently. In this work, we aim to establish a 3D simulation environment for ABRT development. The virtual environment is constructed by mimicking a real-world traffic scene, e.g., merged traffic lanes. With such a 3D environment, the control system of ABRT can be developed and validated in laboratories during the early stage of ABRT development. Furthermore, the 3D environment is able to replicate the actual traffic mixed with vehicles and bikers, which facilitates the testing of the effectiveness, realtimeness, and safeness. Besides, traffic signal information is crucial to ABRT, enabling the development of comfortable and energy-saving systems. We will also discuss the traffic signal information sharing during the 3D simulation.