Ensuring Cooperative Driving Automation (CDA) and Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs) Safety Through Infrastructure

693JJ319D000012Vulnerable road users (VRUs), including pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists, and a variety of micromobility users, are at an increased risk for collisions, severe injuries, and fatalities relative to other road users, particularly in crowded urban environments. New transportation technologies could have both positive and negative effects on VRU safety. These new technologies include automated driving systems (ADS), which are capable of controlling vehicles with no or limited input from human drivers and cooperative driving automation (CDA), which send and receive cooperative and safety messages. The current literature review assesses the potential impact of ADS-equipped vehicles and CDA technology on VRU safety and the potential role of infrastructure in facilitating safe interactions. The review also includes a prioritized list of issues related to human factors and generated research needs, based on feedback from a panel of subject matter experts

Sensor fusion in driving assistance systems

Mención Internacional en el título de doctorLa vida diaria en los países desarrollados y en vías de desarrollo depende en gran medida del transporte urbano y en carretera. Esta actividad supone un coste importante para sus usuarios activos y pasivos en términos de polución y accidentes, muy habitualmente debidos al factor humano. Los nuevos desarrollos en seguridad y asistencia a la conducción, llamados Advanced Driving Assistance Systems (ADAS), buscan mejorar la seguridad en el transporte, y a medio plazo, llegar a la conducción autónoma. Los ADAS, al igual que la conducción humana, están basados en sensores que proporcionan información acerca del entorno, y la fiabilidad de los sensores es crucial para las aplicaciones ADAS al igual que las capacidades sensoriales lo son para la conducción humana. Una de las formas de aumentar la fiabilidad de los sensores es el uso de la Fusión Sensorial, desarrollando nuevas estrategias para el modelado del entorno de conducción gracias al uso de diversos sensores, y obteniendo una información mejorada a partid de los datos disponibles. La presente tesis pretende ofrecer una solución novedosa para la detección y clasificación de obstáculos en aplicaciones de automoción, usando fusión vii sensorial con dos sensores ampliamente disponibles en el mercado: la cámara de espectro visible y el escáner láser. Cámaras y láseres son sensores comúnmente usados en la literatura científica, cada vez más accesibles y listos para ser empleados en aplicaciones reales. La solución propuesta permite la detección y clasificación de algunos de los obstáculos comúnmente presentes en la vía, como son ciclistas y peatones. En esta tesis se han explorado novedosos enfoques para la detección y clasificación, desde la clasificación empleando clusters de nubes de puntos obtenidas desde el escáner láser, hasta las técnicas de domain adaptation para la creación de bases de datos de imágenes sintéticas, pasando por la extracción inteligente de clusters y la detección y eliminación del suelo en nubes de puntos.Life in developed and developing countries is highly dependent on road and urban motor transport. This activity involves a high cost for its active and passive users in terms of pollution and accidents, which are largely attributable to the human factor. New developments in safety and driving assistance, called Advanced Driving Assistance Systems (ADAS), are intended to improve security in transportation, and, in the mid-term, lead to autonomous driving. ADAS, like the human driving, are based on sensors, which provide information about the environment, and sensors’ reliability is crucial for ADAS applications in the same way the sensing abilities are crucial for human driving. One of the ways to improve reliability for sensors is the use of Sensor Fusion, developing novel strategies for environment modeling with the help of several sensors and obtaining an enhanced information from the combination of the available data. The present thesis is intended to offer a novel solution for obstacle detection and classification in automotive applications using sensor fusion with two highly available sensors in the market: visible spectrum camera and laser scanner. Cameras and lasers are commonly used sensors in the scientific literature, increasingly affordable and ready to be deployed in real world applications. The solution proposed provides obstacle detection and classification for some obstacles commonly present in the road, such as pedestrians and bicycles. Novel approaches for detection and classification have been explored in this thesis, from point cloud clustering classification for laser scanner, to domain adaptation techniques for synthetic dataset creation, and including intelligent clustering extraction and ground detection and removal from point clouds.Programa Oficial de Doctorado en Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y AutomáticaPresidente: Cristina Olaverri Monreal.- Secretario: Arturo de la Escalera Hueso.- Vocal: José Eugenio Naranjo Hernánde

Spatial inequalities and media representation of cycling safety in Bogotá, Colombia

Funding: This work was supported by the Colombian Institute for Scholarships and Technical Studies in the Exterior (ICETEX) and the Colombian Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (Colciencias)Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The Impact of Weather Conditions and Infrastructure Design on the Mobility of People with Impaired Vision

University of Minnesota M.S. thesis. July 2019. Major: Design. Advisor: Gordon Legge. 1 computer file (PDF); viii, 104 pages.Nineteen normally-sighted, low vision, and blind pedestrians provided self-reported effects of environmental, infrastructural, and social factors influencing outdoor mobility in the Minnesota’s Twin-Cities metropolitan area. Focus groups and interviews were conducted to gather data on challenges associated with year-round, independent outdoor navigation emphasizing winter pedestrian mobility. Study themes included weather pressures (e.g., precipitation, temperature), infrastructural/engineering features (e.g., street, sidewalk, intersection design and maintenance), and safety concerns related to motorists and obstacles. Results identify pedestrian hazard impacts on quality of life and behavioral adaptations visually-impaired pedestrians create to increase safety and efficiency during mobility. Conclusions prompt considerations for urban planners, engineers, community activists, and stakeholders concerning mobility issues for visually-impaired pedestrians. Recommendations are provided to promote equity and wellbeing in pedestrian mobility

The White Bicycle: Performance, Installation Art, and Activism in Ghost Bike Memorials

In this project I examine the performative nature of the ghost bike memorial. Ghost bikes, flat-white painted immobile bicycles created by cycling communities and loved ones of victims, are installed roadside to mark the locations of cycling related deaths. Using critical performance ethnography and critical-cultural analysis as methods, I analyze how the ghost bike performs as an artifact of mourning and inspires co-incident performances of grief, activism, and community building and maintenance. As a memorial object used worldwide to represent cycling culture, the ghost bike acts as a social network link that connects a multitude of diverse cycling communities. I present five case studies of ghost bikes in New York City, Durham, North Carolina, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and Lafayette, Louisiana in order to dissect what the polysemic ghost bike communicates to public audiences. My analysis led to the discovery that ghost bikes are not only used as memorials. They also perform as metonyms for the absent, ruined bodies of cyclists; as markers of racial identity for victims; and as tools to reframe the narratives told about cycling-related deaths. I describe how the differing interpretations of the memorial are adapted to create and alter performances of identity, and I argue for the potential for these performances to influence perceptions about cycling safety, cycling-based legislation, and road infrastructure

Bicyclist Longitudinal Motion Modeling

69A43551747123Bike is a promising, human-powered, and emission-free transportation mode that is being increasingly advocated as a sustainable mode of transportation due to its significant positive impacts on congestion and the environment. Cities in the United States have experienced a rapid increase in bicycle ridership over the past decade. However, despite the growing popularity of bicycles for short-distance commuting and even for mid-distance recreational trips, researchers have generally ignored the investigation of bicycle traffic flow dynamics. Due to the shared space and frequent interactions among heterogeneous road users, bicycle flow dynamics should be evaluated to determine the tendency of lateral dispersion and its effects on traffic efficiency and safety. Therefore, this research effort proposes to model bicyclist longitudinal motion while accounting for bicycle interactions using vehicular traffic flow techniques. From the comparison of different states of motion for these two transport modes, the authors assumed there is no major difference between vehicular and bicyclist traffic characteristics. The study revamps the Fadhloun-Rakha car-following model previously developed by the research team to make it representative of bicycle traffic flow dynamics. The possibility of capturing cyclists\u2019 behaviors through revamping certain aspects of existing car-following models is investigated. Accordingly, 33 participants were recruited to ride the bike simulator and drive the car simulator simultaneously. The participants were recruited to operate a bike-simulator in order to test the proposed model under realistic traffic conditions and verify the output of the proposed model formulation remains valid when bicyclists are operating under realistic traffic conditions. Both simulators were integrated together, and each participant could inform about the location of another participant in the simulation interval. Six scenarios based on the initial position of the bike and car were developed. Based on the collected data, the Fadhloun-Rakha model was validated to ensure the development of a good descriptor for speed and acceleration and deceleration behaviors. A reliable sample including 100 model parameters values was selected. Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) for the mentioned sample was obtained, and the smallest RMSE in each scenario was identified. Using the obtained RMSEs, the speed and acceleration trajectories for the smallest RMSE in each scenario were drawn. Eventually, the optimal values of the model parameters (a,b,d) in each scenario were specified

DECOMOBIL Roadmap for research on Human Centred Design of ICT for clean and safe mobility. Deliverable 2.2

The scientific seminar on 'Roadmap of Information & Communication Technology design for clean and efficient multimodal mobility' organized by Ifsttar in the framework of the European project DECOMOBIL, has been held the 28th of May 2013 in Munich, Germany. The aims of the event were to overview perspectives of research in the domain of ICT and green transport, with presentation of the main key issues, the on-going major projects, some outstanding results and the scientific and technical lacks of knowledge to overcome, in order to debate about future steps to follow to reach identified and consensual objectives in this domain. Speakers have been identified as key experts in the ecomobility research areas, with diversified points of view and approaches, in order to give to the audience a holistic vision of this issue. During this seminar, an overview of European projects on ecomobility such as eCoMove, compass4D, Adasis, Amitran, has been provided. Experience gained from the iMobility WG on ICT for clean and efficient mobility, which aims providing a vision on eco-friendly mobility, has been presented. Priorities for road safety research in Europe have been defined through the presentation of the PROS project, and transport cross-modal considerations on safety and human factors have been discussed through the presentation of the EXCROSS project. Perspectives on Powered-Two-Wheels contribution to ecomobility in addition to sustainable driving/riding training for a safe and cost efficient behavior have been drawn. Finally, main issues related to design, integration and safety of mobile service for ecomobility and concept of cooperative services have been presented and discussed.A round table allowed the audience to interact in a fruitful way with all the speakers of the day.After summarizing the context linked to ecomobility at a European level, this report gathers a summary of each presentation in addition to the full set of slides displayed at the seminar.Furthermore, all the presentations (slides and video recordings of the speakers) are available for downloading on the DECOMOBIL website http://decomobil.humanist-vce.eu/Downloads.html Document type: Repor

Effects of Electronic Media Messages on the Perceived Self-Efficacy of Pedestrian Commuters Living in the Unincorporated Central Florida Community of Conway

Urban pedestrianism is increasingly perceived as a dangerous form of travel. While roadway design has been historically scaled to cars instead of people, planning professionals are now re-thinking their approach to make roads more inclusive for all travelers. Scholars, however, have learned harbored fear can trump behavior even under ideal travel conditions. Such fear can adversely impact perceived pedestrian self-efficacy, which is the self-generated internal assessment or belief in a traveler\u27s agentive abilities to navigate the travel environment. The challenge thus becomes twofold: improve the built environment while bolstering traveler confidence. The following study, therefore, employed a qualitative phenomenological research design to ascertain the concerns and perceptions of vulnerable travelers as it pertained to and was affected by travel-specific media. The study employed denizens selected from the Central Florida community of Conway, who were interviewed using a multi-method approach employing a semi-structured interview technique utilizing individual interviews and small focus group sessions. Using Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) as the theoretical framework, the researcher studied and documented the elements contributing to the perceptions of pedestrian travelers. The rationale for this approach is found in the dynamic relationships that exist between the objective travel environment, the perceived travel environment, and travel behavior - all representing the triad of cognition, the external environment, and social stimuli, which encompass Bandura\u27s Triadic Reciprocal Determinism (TRD). The four themes that emerged from the data analysis - communication, safety, cost, and happiness - characterize the experiences of the participants as they watched positively-themed media images modeling civil travel behavior. This research adds to existing literature on the magnitude such themes have on perception, to include latent perceptions harbored by pedestrian commuters concerning dangers - real or imagined - of traveling on local roadways

Sociotechnical co-production of planning information : opportunities and limits of crowdsourcing for the geography and planning of bicycle transportation

Urban planners deploy civic technologies to engage publics with digital tools in a relative vacuum of theory, understanding of challenges, or benefits. The issue, Lewis Mumford might have framed, could be of authoritarian and democratic technics—whether the technology contributes more to top-down control or bottom-up understanding. Building from collaborative planning theory, co-production suggests ways people can leverage technologies to build urban solutions with or without professional planners. Empirical research shows that crowdsourcing to address planning questions with digital civic platforms can help fill or mitigate information gaps, including support for bicycling as a safe and comfortable travel mode. However, no research has addressed how crowdsourced information for bicycle planning offers new insights for safety, the geography of participation, or how its social construction impacts its representation of bicycling in a community. A new framework for evaluating co-productive planning is proposed, considering legitimacy, accessibility, social learning, transparency, and representation (LASTR). This dissertation addresses these concerns of safety, geography, and social construction through the LASTR framework using mixed-methods case studies in Portland, Oregon, and Austin, Texas. Bicycle volumes and street ratings through the crowdsourcing platform, along with geographic information system environmental data, and interviews with thirty-three informants form the basis for evaluating these issues. Viewed from pragmatism and social construction of technology, the social processes of planning and technological developments are intertwined and traced in tandem. The first three chapters frame the problems, build a background in theory, and describe the research questions, planning contexts, and data for analysis. The next three chapters are empirical, evaluating the use of crowdsourced information for bicycle safety, comparing the geography of crowdsourced participation with in-person meetings from both cities’ most recent bicycle planning process, and tracing the sociotechnical representation of crowdsourcing bicyclist information through interviews and case materials. The final chapter summarizes the findings and implications for practice and research. This dissertation shows that the biased representation of bicycling in these two crowdsourcing cases pose opportunities to identify safer bicycling routes and expand public participation geographies, but could exacerbate problems with aligning public improvements with the users of a specific technological approach. Further, the construct of crowdsourcing for urban planning remains flexible and therefore merits further study and knowledge transfer for practitioners and students.Community and Regional Plannin