Using co-operative vehicle-infrastructure systems to reduce traffic emissions and improve air quality at signalized urban intersections

Road transport has expanded the scope of human mobility, increasing the distances people travel. However, the recent increase in the number of vehicles has resulted in many adverse consequences in terms of safety, efficiency and the environment. Traffic emissions are known to be the main source of air pollution in urban areas. Today while demand for environmental aspects has increased and is expected to increase even further, a new development has occurred in the applications of co-operative vehicle-infrastructure systems. Using co-operative systems, vehicles and road infrastructures can communicate with each other through Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) and Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I or I2V) communication. Therefore, co-operative systems can be used to improve road safety, efficiency and air quality. This thesis gives more insight into the impacts of co-operative vehicle-infrastructure systems on the environment. To assess these impacts first, a modeling framework of traffic, emission and dispersion model was developed. Second, an indicator for local air quality was developed to support decision making on short-term local traffic measures. Third, an algorithm was developed using I2V communication to influence the traffic flow in real-time and help reducing traffic emissions. Finally, the developed algorithm was tested using the modeling framework. The results show that traffic emissions can be reduced for both actuated and adaptive controller using I2V communication.