Virtual Traffic Signals: Safe, Rapid, Efficient and Autonomous Driving without Traffic Control

Connected and autonomous vehicles (CAV) will open the future to vast possibilities in transportation, most of which have yet to be imagined. As these new technologies emerge, they also have the potential to render many of today's most common transportation control methods irrelevant. In this paper, concepts of connected and autonomous are applied to coordinate and synchronize the arrival and departure of vehicles at intersections; effectively ending the need for traffic signals. Under a set of 'autonomous rules of operation', vehicles can be kept in near-continuous motion while also maintaining safe separation, creating a system of 'virtual traffic signal' (VTS). Assessments of these rules shows that delay and stopping reductions of more than 50 to 97 percent will be possible over actuated control and fixed time signal control - and without the risk of collisions. Not will these rules reduce congestion, travel time, and prevent crashes; they will also lower fuel consumption and exhaust emissions.