DETERMINATION OF NUMBER OF PROBE VEHICLES REQUIRED FOR THE FREEWAY REAL-TIME INFORMATION SYSTEM

In this paper, the authors present an analytical model for determining the number of probe vehicles required for a real-time advanced traveler information system. The information coverage rate is used as a constraint to determine the optimal probe vehicle headway. Variations of the coverage rate and headway based on different sample sizes and information cycles are observed. The radio bandwidth requirements are also proposed.