Support systems for cyclists in automated traffic: A review and future outlook

Interaction with vulnerable road users in complex urban traffic environments poses a significant challenge for automated vehicles. Solutions to facilitate safe and acceptable interactions in future automated traffic include equipping automated vehicles and vulnerable road users, such as cyclists, with awareness or notification systems, as well as connecting road users to a network of motorised vehicles and infrastructure. This paper provides a synthesis of the current literature on communication technologies, systems, and devices available to cyclists, including technologies present in the environment and on motorised interaction partners such as vehicles, and discusses the outlook for technology-driven solutions in future automated traffic. The objective is to identify, classify, and count the technologies, systems, and devices that have the potential to aid cyclists in traffic with automated vehicles. Additionally, this study aims to extrapolate the potential benefits of these systems and stimulate discourse on the implications of connected vulnerable road users. The authors analysed and coded 92 support systems using a taxonomy of 13 variables based on the physical, communicational, and functional attributes of the systems. The discussion frames these systems into four categories: cyclist wearables, on-bike devices, vehicle systems, and infrastructural systems, and highlights the implications of the visual, auditory, motion-based, and wireless modes of communication of the devices. The most common system was cyclist wearables (39%), closely followed by on-bike devices (38%) and vehicle systems (33%). Most systems communicated visually (77%). The authors suggest that interfaces on motorised vehicles accommodate cyclists with visibility all around the car and incorporate two-way communication. The type of system and the effect of communication modality on performance and safety needs further research, preferably in complex and representative test scenarios with automated vehicles. Finally, the study highlights the ethical implications of connected road users and suggests that the future outlook of transport systems may benefit from a more inclusive and less car-centred approach, shifting the burden of safety away from vulnerable road users and promoting more cyclist-friendly solutions.

• Record URL:
  • https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2023.104043
• Record URL:
  • http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003687023000819
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/00036870
• Supplemental Notes:
  • © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Abstract reprinted with permission of Elsevier.
• Authors:
  • Berge, Siri Hegna
  • 0000-0002-0568-9658
  • de Winter, Joost
  • 0000-0002-1281-8200
  • Hagenzieker, Marjan
  • 0000-0002-5884-4877
• Publication Date: 2023-9

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 104043
• Serial:
  • Applied Ergonomics
  • Volume: 111
  • Issue Number: 0
  • Publisher: Elsevier
  • ISSN: 0003-6870
  • EISSN: 1872-9126
  • Serial URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00036870

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Autonomous vehicles; Countermeasures; Cyclists; Literature reviews; Traffic safety; Vehicle mix
• Subject Areas: Operations and Traffic Management; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01886206
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jun 28 2023 4:29PM