Using the smartphone in carpooling for new mobility services

The principle of dynamic carpooling is in local real-time to send the "user-carpooler." If we choose to travel with standard vehicles, we can contact the service a few minutes before departure. The service then searches for the best driver to give the desired car-sharing service on the chosen route. In recent years, there has been growing creation of modern information and communication technology, particularly with the growth of the Internet and mobile telephones. New knowledge and networking systems are therefore closely linked with the changing area of mobility. Policies and processes introduced for sustainable mobility in this field. New forms of transportation aim to find a space for them and promote emerging mobility technologies such as shared cars. It has been shown that these programs utilize modern knowledge and communication technology, particularly recently, to evolve via telephone. The aim of this project is, in this sense, to decide how often smartphone car sharing access can be utilized. This tool seems important in specific typical vehicle use encounters and seems a significant factor in growing its scope by simplifying access and use. The method is versatile and provides a high standard of operation with a reasonable number of participants: the probability of having a shared vehicle is reasonable. This scheme complements mass transit – on-demand and daily – and complementary options such as bicycle terminals

Towards a dedicated transport safety research facility for south africa

Papers presented virtually at the 41st International Southern African Transport Conference on 10-13 July 2023.The establishment of a dedicated CSIR research facility for transport safety has been a topic of discussion for several years. In 2020 the CSIR embarked on a process to establish a facility dedicated to transport safety research to be known as the Transport Safety Lab. The aim is to address transport unsafety by conducting experimental projects that provide insight into the mechanisms and contributory factors that cause risk and incidents in the transport environment. This paper provides feedback regarding progress made with the Transport Safety Lab project to address the Research Development and Innovation (RD&I) gap by enabling experimental research (evidence based and data driven), promoting, and advancing initiatives and opportunities that encourage the use of local data and methodologies in support of local transport safety solutions. In addition, the article provides a review of current experimental projects that support capability development and the building of a portfolio of evidence to be used to display the type of work that the Transport Safety Lab can do. The experimental projects revolve around specific topics that contribute to addressing accidents and incidents and are considered medium to long-term projects or research programmes that are evidence-based and that will in future inform the development and implementation of relevant, targeted policies, regulations, and interventions to effectively curb transport safety issues responsible for crippling the South African economy

Driving Towards Inclusion: Revisiting In-Vehicle Interaction in Autonomous Vehicles

This paper presents a comprehensive literature review of the current state of in-vehicle human-computer interaction (HCI) in the context of self-driving vehicles, with a specific focus on inclusion and accessibility. This study's aim is to examine the user-centered design principles for inclusive HCI in self-driving vehicles, evaluate existing HCI systems, and identify emerging technologies that have the potential to enhance the passenger experience. The paper begins by providing an overview of the current state of self-driving vehicle technology, followed by an examination of the importance of HCI in this context. Next, the paper reviews the existing literature on inclusive HCI design principles and evaluates the effectiveness of current HCI systems in self-driving vehicles. The paper also identifies emerging technologies that have the potential to enhance the passenger experience, such as voice-activated interfaces, haptic feedback systems, and augmented reality displays. Finally, the paper proposes an end-to-end design framework for the development of an inclusive in-vehicle experience, which takes into consideration the needs of all passengers, including those with disabilities, or other accessibility requirements. This literature review highlights the importance of user-centered design principles in the development of HCI systems for self-driving vehicles and emphasizes the need for inclusive design to ensure that all passengers can safely and comfortably use these vehicles. The proposed end-to-end design framework provides a practical approach to achieving this goal and can serve as a valuable resource for designers, researchers, and policymakers in this field

Attention and Task Engagement During Automated Driving

Many young drivers suffer fatal crashes each year in the United States at a rate approximately three times greater than more experienced drivers. Automated driving systems may serve to mitigate young drivers high crash rates but remain underexplored in research. This dissertation project examined the effects of levels of automation and interestingness of auditory clips on latent hazard anticipation in young drivers during simulated driving. Participants drove a vehicle at varying levels of vehicle automation (SAE Level 0, 2, or 3) in simulated scenarios, each containing a latent hazard event during which a boring, neutral, or interesting auditory clip was played. After completing all scenarios, participants completed an auditory stimuli recognition test and a questionnaire measuring the drivers’ calibration of their LHA performance. Results demonstrated that those in the L3 condition anticipated significantly fewer hazards than those in the L0 condition, corroborating previous research (Samuels et al., 2020). However, those in the L3 condition were also significantly poorer at anticipating latent hazards than those in the L2 condition, suggesting the importance of instruction on a drivers’ attentional allocation policy. A tradeoff was found between latent hazard anticipation and auditory recognition scores indicating the allocation of limited attentional resources as predicted by the Yamani and Horrey (2018) model. Interestingness of auditory stimuli had little to no effect on latent hazard anticipation. In general, automation may improve the multitasking ability of a young driver piloting L2 automation, but this benefit is lost for drivers of L3 automation. Instead, young drivers piloting L3 automation may anticipate latent hazards at rates as low as those observed in newly licensed drivers, and may be completely unaware of their failure to anticipate such hazards. The current research illustrates the criticality of user guidance when handling automated driving systems and serves as one step towards understanding the complex relationship between human drivers and automated systems

Making Sense of Making Sense - Exploring users’ understanding of automated vehicles during use

Automation has for a long time been embraced by the vehicle industry and in recent years, the amount and sophistication of automation in vehicles have rapidly increased, creating more advanced automated vehicle (AV) systems. The complexity of AVs does not only pose a technical challenge, but the entry of automation into vehicles also creates new dynamics in the human-vehicle interaction, that puts new demands on the user. Previous research has identified the importance of user understanding of Automated Vehicles, as this affects usage directly as well as indirectly by impacting acceptance. In this thesis, a design approach has been chosen that uses a product semantic framework as the basis for addressing the issue of user understanding with the aim of exploring how users make sense of the AV. The research presented is based on data from three quasi-experimental study, conducted with users of a (i) seemingly fully automated vehicle, (ii) vehicle with two different levels of automation, and (iii) an advanced driver assistance system for docking buses. The findings show that use of the AVs gave rise to several levels of meaning, based on two different processes. The main one was an intermeaning process, where integration of the participants’ conceptual models, artefactual signifiers, and situational signifiers in a context developed meaning. However, an intrameaning process was also evident, where meanings themselves developed new meanings. The findings also show that the usage of the AV itself is an integral part of the process of making sense, where both processes affect how the system is used and the usage triggers new meaning to arise. This thesis presents a model based on the findings, describing four important factors: the user’s conceptual model, the signifiers, the meanings that arise during use of the AV, and the context in which it is used. The model illustrates the complex interplay between these four components and can be used to better understand and investigate how users make sense of AVs to aid the design and development of AVs. The thesis also contributes to the field of product semantics through the practical application of product semantic theories, in addition to providing further insight into how users develop meaning and make sense of artefacts, by describing the processes and components which seem to be the foundation when making sense of artefacts.Having said that, further studies need to explore in greater detail the dynamics of the process of making sense, how meaning changes during a prolonged usage, and how the tentative model could be advanced to be able to be used in the AV development and evaluation processes

Challenges to human drivers in increasingly automated vehicles

Objective : We examine the relationships between contemporary progress in on‐road vehicle automation and its coherence with an envisioned “autopia” (automobile utopia) whereby the vehicle operation task is removed from all direct human control. Background : The progressive automation of on‐road vehicles toward a completely driverless state is determined by the integration of technological advances into the private automobile market; improvements in transportation infrastructure and systems efficiencies; and the vision of future driving as a crash‐free enterprise. While there are many challenges to address with respect to automated vehicles concerning the remaining driver role, a considerable amount of technology is already present in vehicles and is advancing rapidly. Methods : A multidisciplinary team of experts met to discuss the most critical challenges in the changing role of the driver, and associated safety issues, during the transitional phase of vehicle automation where human drivers continue to have an important but truncated role in monitoring and supervising vehicle operations. Results : The group endorsed that vehicle automation is an important application of information technology, not only because of its impact on transportation efficiency, but also because road transport is a life critical system in which failures result in deaths and injuries. Five critical challenges were identified: driver independence and mobility, driver acceptance and trust, failure management, third-party testing, and political support. Conclusion : Vehicle automation is not technical innovation alone, but is a social as much as a technological revolution consisting of both attendant costs and concomitant benefits

Untersuchungen zu Verhaltensanpassungen von zu Fuß Gehenden bei der Interaktion mit hochautomatisierten Pkw

Bereits heute wird die Interaktion zwischen hochautomatisierten Pkw und zu Fuß Gehenden erforscht, um zukünftig einen sicheren und effizienten Straßenverkehrsfluss zu gewährleisten. Die hohe Automatisierung der dynamischen Fahrzeugführungsaufgabe bedingt nicht nur die Ergänzung, sondern den zeitweisen vollständigen Ersatz des Menschen als fahrende Person, weshalb die Mensch-Maschine-Schnittstelle (MMS) für die Interaktion zwischen hochautomatisierten Pkw und zu Fuß gehenden Personen an Bedeutung gewinnt. Diese technologisch induzierte Veränderung kann die Ursache für Verhaltensanpassungen von zu Fuß Gehenden im Straßenverkehr sein. Eine Forschungslücke besteht darin, die Verhaltensanpassungen von zu Fuß Gehenden zu untersuchen. Dementsprechend ist das Ziel dieser Arbeit, Verhaltensanpassungen zu Fuß Gehender bei der Interaktion mit hochautomatisierten Pkw unter dem Aspekt steigender Erfahrung des Menschen bei der Interaktion sowie der Automationstransparenz, als Variable der Gestaltung der MMS von hochautomatisierten Pkw, zu untersuchen. Zur Erfüllung dieser Zielstellung wurden zwei empirische Untersuchungen als explorative Interviewstudie mit 36 Teilnehmenden und als quasi-experimentelle Studie mit Messwiederholungen durchgeführt. Auf einem abgesperrten Testgelände interagierten 37 Versuchspersonen an drei aufeinanderfolgenden Versuchstagen mit einem hochautomatisierten Pkw als Realfahrzeug mit Wizard-of-Oz Konzept. Neben der interaktionsbezogenen Variablen der Bereitschaft zur Querung wurden das Vertrauen in und das mentale Modell bezüglich hochautomatisierter Pkw erhoben. Die Ergebnisse der Interviewstudie zeigen, dass Erfahrung eine zentrale Einflussgröße einer Verhaltensanpassung von zu Fuß Gehenden bei der Interaktion mit hochautomatisierten Pkw ist. Außerdem deckt sich das mentale Modell der interviewten Personen nicht mit dem konzeptuellen Modell eines hochautomatisierten Pkw. Aus den explorativen Erkenntnissen der Interviewstudie wurden Hypothesen abgeleitet, die in dem kontrollierten Feldtest geprüft wurden. Die Ergebnisse dieser zweiten empirischen Untersuchung zeigen, dass in Abhängigkeit der Fahrstrategie des Pkw und der Automationstransparenz die Bereitschaft zur Querung von zu Fuß Gehenden mit zunehmender Erfahrung bei der Interaktion mit hochautomatisierten Pkw zunimmt. Des Weiteren nimmt das Vertrauen von zu Fuß Gehenden in hochautomatisierte Pkw mit zunehmender Interaktionserfahrung zu. Demgegenüber entwickelt sich das mentale Modell der Versuchspersonen von einem hochautomatisierten Pkw nicht innerhalb der drei Versuchstage. Die Ausprägung des mentalen Modells bezüglich hochautomatisierter Pkw ist jedoch von der erlebten Automationstransparenz abhängig. Für die Erforschung der Interaktion zwischen zu Fuß Gehenden und hochautomatisierten Pkw bietet diese Arbeit einen Mehrwert, weil bislang experimentelle Untersuchungen zu Verhaltensanpassungen von zu Fuß Gehenden in realitätsnahen Untersuchungsumgebungen fehlen. Aus der Arbeit leitet sich die praktische Implikation ab, dass hochautomatisierte Pkw mit einer hohen Automationstransparenz gestaltet werden sollten, wenn sie mit zu Fuß Gehenden im Straßenverkehr interagieren