Overview and analysis of Vehicle Automation and Communication Systems from a motorway traffic management perspective

• Vehicle Automation and Communication Systems (VACS) are reviewed.
• A VACS taxonomy is proposed from a motorway traffic management perspective.
• VACS are classified regarding enabled/foreseen functions and level of autonomy.
• VACS are analysed regarding relevance for future motorway traffic management.
• VACS-related future challenges are outlined and discussed.

During the last decade, there has been an enormous interdisciplinary effort by the automobile industry and numerous research institutions worldwide towards the development, testing and employment of a variety of Vehicle Automation and Communication Systems (VACS) with the main aims to improve road safety and driver convenience. Some VACS, however, have a direct impact on road efficiency as well and could therefore be exploited to relieve road networks from the significant congestion problems and their negative consequences for travel times, safety, fuel consumption, the environment and the quality of life in general. In other words, some of the available VACS could also be used as novel or innovative sensors, actuators and tools towards a new era of traffic management. This paper provides an overview of proposed and available VACS and discusses their perspectives from the motorway traffic management point of view. Classifications of the different systems in this respect are also provided, while SWOT (Strengths–Weaknesses–Opportunities–Threats) analyses are used to identify specific exploitation ways. Current trends and future perspectives of VACS within a motorway traffic management context are finally summarised.