Lyu, W., Lee, Y.M., Uzondu, C. et al. (5 more authors) (2024) A distributed simulation study to investigate pedestrians’ road-crossing decisions and head movements in response to different vehicle kinematics in mixed traffic. Transportation Research Part F Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 104. pp. 1-14. ISSN 1369-8478
Abstract
The impending deployment of automated vehicles (AVs) will lead to mixed traffic conditions, where pedestrians will be required to interact with both AVs and human-driven vehicles. For traffic flow to be safe and efficient, AVs’ understanding of pedestrians’ behaviour and intention is as important as pedestrians’ perception of AVs’ status and intent. To investigate pedestrians’ road-crossing decisions and interactive behaviour in mixed traffic, a distributed simulation study was developed by linking a CAVE-based pedestrian simulator and a desktop driving simulator. Twenty-five pairs of pedestrians and drivers were recruited, and each pair experienced 32 trials, where pedestrians decided to cross (or not) before an approaching vehicle at an un-signalised, single-lane, road. The driving pattern of the approaching vehicle (controlled by either a predefined program or human driver) and braking mode (braking/non-braking) were manipulated. For the predefined vehicles, the braking pattern was subdivided into hard braking and soft braking to provide more kinematic variability. Human drivers were also instructed to yield, or not, in different trials. Pedestrians’ road-crossing decisions and head movements were recorded and analysed. Results revealed a significant difference in head-turning patterns between crossing and non-crossing manoeuvres, demonstrating pedestrians’ head movements as a valid indicator of their road-crossing intentions. Moreover, results identified a ‘last moment check’ behaviour before pedestrians’ crossing initiation, with a significant increase in head-turning during the last 2 s. Finally, pedestrians made a similar percentage of road crossings and displayed a similar pattern of head movements, in response to human-driven and predefined vehicles, suggesting that the difference of implicit cues in the current mixed traffic setup does not impact their behaviour prior to road crossings. The findings from this study extend our knowledge of how pedestrians behave when crossing the road in mixed traffic, particularly in terms of their head-turning behaviour. We hope this information can be used by future AVs to better predict pedestrians’ road-crossing intentions in urban settings.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. This is an author produced version of an article published in Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. |
Keywords: | Pedestrian, Mixed traffic, Automated vehicle, Interaction, Road-crossing, Head-turning behaviour |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > Institute for Transport Studies (Leeds) > ITS: Safety and Technology (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 28 Aug 2024 08:58 |
Last Modified: | 28 Aug 2024 08:58 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.trf.2024.04.023 |
Sustainable Development Goals: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:216463 |
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