Study on Variable Speed Limit Control Strategy of Highway under Intelligent Connected Environment

This paper presents a novel variable speed limit control strategy based on an Improved METANET model aimed at addressing traffic congestion in the bottleneck areas of expressways while considering the impact of an intelligent connected environment. Traffic flow simulation software was employed to compare the outcomes of the traditional variable speed limit model with those derived from the proposed strategy. The results indicated that under three scenarios—main road, ramp, and lane closure—with a 100% penetration rate of intelligent connected vehicles, the average delay for vehicles utilizing the new model decreased by 9.37%, 11.11%, and 7.22%, respectively. This study offers an innovative approach to highway variable speed limits under an intelligent connected environment.