Agencies are making funding plans to meet future roadway needs while anticipating impacts of connected and automated vehicles (CAVs). CAVs are anticipated to have substantial market penetration after year 2050. As of 2024, base capacity of a freeway lane is 2,400 vehicles per hour per lane (vphpl). Research has shown that at 100% market penetration rate, freeway capacity could increase by up to 33% to 3,200 vphpl due to smaller gaps between CAVs. Freeway capacity increases may be higher for lower base capacities. This is because an automated driving system is not affected by narrow lane widths, absence of shoulder, or other factors Traffic and Safety Analysis Procedures Manual | 2024 3-14 that cause a human driver to maintain larger gaps. It is recommended that scenario planning analysis for the future considers the additional and independent impact of CAVs on lane capacities. Capacity adjustment factors (CAFs) for CAVs on basic freeway and freeway diverge segments are shown in

Table 3-3

. These adjustment factors come directly from the HCM 7th Edition