Quantifying Highway Flow Improvements via CACC-Based Truck Platooning: A Statistical Modeling Approach

2026-01-0463

4/7/2026

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Abstract
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The advancement of Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control (CACC) technology enables vehicle platooning on public roads, offering significant potential to enhance urban mobility, driving safety, and energy efficiency. Among various applications, truck platooning has become a promising strategy to increase highway flow rates by reducing vehicle headways, improving coordination, and optimizing space utilization. This paper presents a quantitative assessment of a CACC-based truck platooning system, focusing on its effectiveness in enhancing highway mobility under varying traffic conditions. A statistical regression model is developed and calibrated using simulations of real-world highway networks to identify key influencing factors and evaluate the resulting improvements in traffic flow. The analysis considers five primary variables: desired platoon speed, platoon size, space headway, percentage of platooning trucks, and non-platoon traffic flow. The study systematically examines the impact of each parameter on overall traffic throughput. Results indicate that truck platooning can increase highway flow rates by up to 200%, particularly under conditions of high truck volumes and larger platoon sizes. Both platoon size and the percentage of platooning trucks show a positive correlation with flow rates, suggesting that greater coordination among vehicles enhances overall mobility. Conversely, higher desired speeds and larger space headways tend to diminish the benefits of platooning by reducing traffic density. Overall, this paper provides a comprehensive quantitative evaluation of the mobility benefits of truck platooning and highlights its potential to significantly improve highway operations. Future work will extend these findings to assess the energy and emission benefits of platooning and to evaluate the performance of large-scale platooning deployment strategies.
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Karbasi, A., Wang, J., and Yang, H., "Quantifying Highway Flow Improvements via CACC-Based Truck Platooning: A Statistical Modeling Approach," WCX SAE World Congress Experience, Detroit, Michigan, United States, April 14, 2026, https://doi.org/10.4271/2026-01-0463.
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Published
Apr 07
Product Code
2026-01-0463
Content Type
Technical Paper
Language
English