A Control Theoretic Formulation of Green Driving Strategy

20 The transportation sector generates a large percentage of local pollutants including hydrocarbons 21 (HC), carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), and oxides of nitrogen (NOx). Apart from 22 switching to alternative fuels, various green driving strategies that smooth traffic flow and reduce 23 congestion can be implemented to lower pollutant emissions and fuel consumption. In this paper, 24 we study constant and dynamic green driving strategies based on inter-vehicle communications. 25 With Newell’s car-following model, a theoretical analysis demonstrates that optimal smoothing 26 effects can be achieved when the constant speed limit is close to but not smaller than the average 27 speed of traffic, which can guarantee a vehicle’s speed profile be smooth while still following its 28 leader during a relative long time period. Then we consider a dynamic strategy in which, through 29 inter-vehicle communication, controlled vehicles share their location and speed information. By 30 simulations with Newell’s car-following model and CMEM emission model for different market 31 penetration rates of IVC-equipped vehicles and communication delays, we can see that the pro32 posed dynamic green driving strategy can significantly reduce emissions and fuel consumption 33 without reducing average speed of traffic in a stop-and-go traffic stream. In the future, we will 34 investigate traffic and environmental benefits of green driving strategies for more realistic traffic 35 and communication scenarios. 36