Emergency Vehicle simulation

The simulation of emergency vehicles and their special rights is partially possible with SUMO. Additional capabilities are planned for the future.

• Disregarding right-of-way and traffic lights: This is supported by using the TraCI 'speed mode' command to disable intersection related safety checks.
• Exceeding the speed limit: This is supported by setting the vType-attribute speedFactor (a value of 1.5 allows driving with 150% of the road speed limit).
• Driving in a virtual middle lane on a multi-lane road: This is supported by using the sublane model. The cooperative behavior of the surrounding traffic is not automatic and must be forced via TraCI commands.

Visualization

The visualization of emergency vehicles is supported in SUMO-GUI. When setting the vType-attribute guiShape="emergency" a white vehicle with the international sign for first aid is drawn. When additionally setting the vType-attribute vClass="emergency" a blue flashing light will be drawn also.

References

Bieker, Laura (2015) Traffic safety evaluations for Emgergency Vehicles. Young Researchers Seminar, 17.-19. Juni 2015, Rom, Italien.

Bieker, Laura (2011) Emergency Vehicle Prioritization using Vehicle-To-Vehicle Communication. Young Researchers Seminar, 8.-10. Jun. 2011, Kopenhagen, Dänemark.