On the Impact of Platooning Maneuvers on Traffic

Previous studies have shown that platooning can improve traffic. In particular, platooning can augment the road capacity, improve the traffic flow, and reduce emissions. However, existing studies do not take into account the impact of platooning maneuvers on traffic. Such impact can be particularly relevant as platooning will be gradually introduced, and automated vehicles will have to coexist with non-automated vehicles. Non-automated vehicles can interfere with the execution of platooning maneuvers, and hence have an impact on the benefits of platooning. In this context, this study analyzes for the first time the impact of platooning maneuvers on traffic (flow and speed) in mixed traffic scenarios where automated and nonautomated vehicles coexist. The study demonstrates that the traffic benefits obtained with platooning can be overestimated if platooning maneuvers are not properly modelled and taken into account during the analysis.