Traffic Flow Control and Fuel Consumption Reduction via Moving Bottlenecks

Moving bottlenecks, such as slow-driving vehicles, are commonly thought of as impediments to efficient traffic flow. Here, we demonstrate that in certain situations, moving bottlenecks---properly controlled---can actually be beneficial for the traffic flow, in that they reduce the overall fuel consumption, without imposing any delays on the other vehicles. As an important practical example, we study a fixed bottleneck (e.g., an accident) that has occurred further downstream. This new possibility of traffic control is particularly attractive with autonomous vehicles, which (a) will have fast access to non-local information, such as incidents and congestion downstream; and (b) can execute driving protocols accurately.