University of California Institute of Transportation Studies

Connected Vehicles (CV) technology offers significant potential for managing traffic congestion and improving mobility along transportation corridors. This report presents a novel approach using integrated corridor management (ICM) technology to divert CVs to underutilized park-and-ride facilities where drivers can park their vehicle and access public transportation. Using vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication protocols, the system collects data on downstream traffic and sends messages regarding available park-and-ride options to upstream traffic. A deep reinforcement learning (DRL) program controls the messaging, with the objective of maximizing traffic throughput and minimizing CO2 emissions and travel time. The ICM strategy is simulated on a realistic model of Interstate 5 using Veins simulation software. The results show marginal improvement in throughput, freeway travel time, and CO2 emissions, but increased travel delay for drivers choosing to divert to a park-and-ride facility to take public transportation for a portion of their travel.