Efficient VANET-Based Traffic Information Sharing using Buses on Regular Routes

In this paper, we propose a method which efficiently collects, retains and propagates traffic information using inter- vehicle communication with "message ferrying" technique used in vehicular ad hoc network (VANET). In the proposed method, we use buses as message ferries which travel along regular routes. In order to improve information propagation efficiency in low- density areas, buses collect as much traffic information as possible from cars in their proximity, and periodically disseminate the collected information to neighboring cars. We have implemented the proposed system on the traffic simulator NETSTREAM and compared information propagation efficiency between our proposed method and a method which uses inter-vehicle communication among only ordinary cars. In the simulation, the proposed method improved the efficiency up to 50%.