SPECIAL SESSION

Giulio E. Cantarella

Transportation systems with autonomous vehicles

In recent years technologies for automated and autonomous vehicles have fast developed, so that they seem ready for substituting in the near future privately owned man-driven vehicles and further supporting the spread of shared vehicles both for travellers and freight transportation, and in urban and extra-urban journeys. On the other hand, it may easily anticipated that time period needed to turn the existing stock of vehicles to autonomous will last several years.

A change so great may not be technology-driven only, but also requires a carefully analysis of its several impact through enhancement of tools available to the transportation systems modellers and planners. Such enhanced tools may be casted in the general framework of multi-user class transportation system analysis and design, concerning:

• transportation network analysis, through level-of-service models and assignment methods,
• travel demand analysis, through behavioural choice modelling paradigms,
• traffic control, including signal setting design,
• transportation network design, through optimization techniques.

Papers:
“Transportation systems with autonomous vehicles: general modelling issues” by G E Cantarella and A. Di Febbraro
“Transportation systems with autonomous vehicles: behavioural issues” by G E Cantarella, S. de Luca and A. Di Febbraro
“Transportation systems with autonomous vehicles: traffic control” by G E Cantarella, A. Di Febbraro, R. Di Pace and N. Sacco