Abstract
Vehicle-to-X (V2X) ( vehicle-to-vehicle [V2V], and vehicle-to-infrastructure [V2I]) communication, used in intelligent
transportation system (ITS)/vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs), promises improved traffic efficiency, road safety, and
provision of infotainment services, etc. However, the levels of these improvements have not been clearly researched and
documented especially in realistic environments [2]. Consequently, using field and simulation data, we investigate the
safety and traffic efficiency application benefits of V2V communication applications in a realistic scenario. In order to do
this, we built a real-world simulation test-bed using real-world/field traffic data of the Maryland (MD)/Washington DC
and Virginia (VA) area from July 2012 to December 2012. In addition, we developed an application called incident warning
application (IWA) of which IWA-equipped vehicles make use of it to bypass a compound road accident, slippery roadway
caused by ice, and reduced visibility as a result of fog; unequipped/classic vehicles are unaware of this and hence suffer
adverse effects. On the average, our results show that, indeed, tangible benefits/improvements with respect to travel time
(126.78%), average speed (56.12%), fuel consumption (8.05%), CO2 emissions (8.05%) together with other evaluated
performance metrics are derivable from V2V communication especially at specific IWA-equipped vehicles penetration
rates.
