Analysis of mixed traffic flow safety at the exit ramp of freeway

The emergence of mixed traffic flow involving Intelligent Connected Vehicles (ICVs) has increased the vital of studies on the impact of ICVs on road safety, especially freeways. It is also essential to comprehend the mixed traffic flow safety corresponding to the different penetration rates of ICVs in the section of the exit ramp of freeways. This paper presented an analysis of mixed traffic flow safety at the freeway exit ramp based on the vehicle behavior models calibrated by the genetic algorithm and simulation experiments by SUMO. The real dataset of the exit ramp was recorded in Hechizhai Interchange by an unmanned aerial vehicle. The simulation experiments were conducted with the different penetration rates of ICVs and the proportion of vehicles exiting the ramp. The results demonstrated that the higher penetration rate of ICVs would improve the safety of mixed traffic flow in the exit ramp of freeways, although the higher proportion of vehicles exiting the ramp would increase traffic conflicts and risks