Heterogeneity of Microscopic Congested Traffic Data Based on Drone Measurements We study vehicle trajectories at the onset and existence of traffic congestion and reveal its microscopic features on separate highway lanes. Drone observations of microscopic data of moving vehicles have been made available on threelane road segments of German highways. Based on these detailed empirical traffic data we reveal heterogeneity and complexity of congested traffic and discuss its consequences. E.g., to perform a safe and comfortable driving behavior by driver assistance systems or automated vehicles lanelevel traffic states should be adapted. A congested and dense traffic state only on the left lane of a threelane highway could be a serious danger. Moreover, we propose an empirical method to calculate local traffic densities that could be used to warn vehicles in advance about high preceding densities. We leverage that concept to study a local traffic jam and discuss its lanelevel properties. We reveal the heterogeneity of high local density structures on separate highway lanes.

Laboratory Emulator Using Connected Scaled Cars to Study Traffic Waves Traffic density has become one of the substantial problems in urban areas. Saturated roads increase the likelihood of vehicular collisions, mostly since the distance between the cars is decreased significantly. The emerging technology of communication between cars is suggested as an enabling technology to optimize traffic flow control. One solution to improve traffic flow on dense roads is to share kinematic properties among near cars. This could enable drivers or an automated system to get better decisions with respect to following the preceding cars. Control algorithms for cars driving in heavy traffic that considers the velocities, acceleration and spacing of the neighboring vehicles ahead, could eliminate traffic waves and reduce tail to head collisions. The purpose of this work is to design and construct a lab testbed based on scaled electric cars, which are remotely controlled by a PC, and to implement driving algorithms for these cars assuming the kinematic properties of the adjacent cars are known.