Design Considerations and Traffic Performance of Freeway Automated Vehicle Managed Lanes

As automated vehicles (AVs) are introduced into the traffic fleet, their operational differences from driver-operated vehicles (DVs) may impact traffic performance and safety. Researchers suggest that dedicated lanes could reduce AV-DV interactions. This paper presents a simulation-based study evaluating the performance of four ML strategies in mixed AV-DV traffic, considering lane position, and access control, AV market adoption rate, and ML eligibility. Sixteen ML cases were optimized and compared to a heterogeneous traffic environment based on capacity and efficiency. The results indicated that traffic demand level, MAR, and ML strategy can impact freeway performance. A heterogeneous traffic environment was favoured in most MARs and traffic demand levels. However, one AV left-side ML can be deployed at MARs of 25% regardless of access control, or one AV left-side ML with continuous access at 50% MAR. Implementation of these strategies would involve updating roadway signage to ensure correct usage of the freeway.