International crash statistics indicate a decrease of bicycle crashes, but at a slower pace compared to total crash numbers. The share of crashes with involved cyclists is above the modal share (see [1] for an overview). Depending on sources, types of analyses, and geographic regions, crash statistics suggest high rates of singlebike crashes and crashes between cyclists and other vulnerable road users (VRUs) [2], while cars are opponents in more than half of all fatal crashes in the European Union [3]. The design of th.e road environment is of particular relevance for crash risks. A study from London found three times higher injury odds for cyclists at intersections [4]. Connected and automated vehicles (CAV) are frequently said to increase the safety level in road traffic since they are less prone to human errors [5]. This might hold true in transport systems with little complexity, such as highways [6]. However, when it comes to complex situations in multimodal systems with multiple interactions between different road users, such as intersections in urban environments, existing solutions are not sufficient yet in terms of protecting VRUs. ... In order to contribute to the safety of VRUs in the interplay with CAVs in current systems, we propose a geospatial model, which delineates potential interaction risk zones from high definition (HD) maps and enriching these zones with additional information. These enriched risk zones are then provided as standardized OGC web service, which can be integrated in V2X systems. With this, we contribute to the visibility, and thus the safety of VRUs in connected transport systems. From a methodological point of view, the proposed model is a first step in integrating spatial context and semantic information explicitly into V2X communication. [From: Introduction]

E-scooters are a rather new mode of transport. Nevertheless, in recent years lots of studies have been published. Replaced modes and consequential environmental impacts as well as specific injury pattern are important topics. Regarding shape, speed and usage, e-scooters are most similar to bikes. As a consequence, by law e-scooters use the same road space or infrastructure than bikes do. Concurrently, in recent years we experience a boom of cycling in cities and a significant expansion of the bike infrastructure. Requirements and frequency of usage on the bike infrastructure are growing in cities caused by increasingly diverse cyclists. At the same time, the bike infrastructure is subject new requirements and additional pressure due to the implementation of e-scooters. In Germany, allowing e-scooters on bike infrastructure can be seen as a paradigm shift since for the first time a motorized vehicle is allowed to use the infrastructure. On this background, interrelation between e-scooters and active mobility (walking and cycling) are very important for the future use of the infrastructure and the ongoing transformation of urban mobility. Hence, we use a multi-method approach to investigate these potential conflicts and draw conclusions for regulation as well as improvement in the system.

Understandings of road traffic interactions are largely based on human-human interactions. However, the development of vehicles controlled by highly auto- mated driving systems (ADS) would introduce a radically novel type of road user. This compilation thesis explores encounters between these “autonomous vehicles” (AVs) and human vulnerable road users (VRUs) such as pedestrians and cyclists. The included publications are connected to three research questions. First, empirical studies are reviewed to highlight existing interactive be- haviors and communication cues. This is followed by a methodological question of how to investigate AV-VRU interactions. Finally, VRUs’ experiences from initial experiments on AV crossing encounters are presented. While road user trajectories and kinematic behaviors are viewed as primary mechanisms to facilitate traffic interactions, they might also be influenced by cues such as appearances, gestures, eye-gaze, and external human-machine interfaces (eHMI). Using the Wizard-of-Oz approach, we are able to explore VRU encounters with a seemingly highly automated vehicle. Compared to meeting an attentive driver, AV encounters resulted in a reported lower willingness to cross, lower perceived safety, and less calm emotional state, indicating that the absence of driver-centric cues could lead to interaction issues and impede acceptance of AVs. To further explore this, we included light-based eHMI to signal the driving mode and intent of the vehicle (e.g., intent to yield). Future research should continue to investigate how AVs may co-exist with human road users focusing on aspects such as behavioral adaptations, research methodologies, and the role of various eHMI.

Traffic is a complex environment in which many actors take part; several new technologies bring promises of reducing this complexity. However, cyclists—a particularly vulnerable road user group—have so far been somewhat put aside in these new developments, among them being Cooperative Intelligent Traffic Systems (C-ITS) and their aspects of human–computer interaction. This master’s thesis of industrial design engineering presents five multimodal collision warning signals for cyclists—future ones in these supposed C-ITS—using a novel application of bone conduction headphones (BCH) via sensations of both sound and touch. The thesis project was conducted as a complementary subset of the larger research project ‘V2Cyclist’ orchestrated by RISE Interactive. V2Cyclist set out to adapt the wireless V2X-protocol for cyclists by developing a physical prototype in the form of a bicycle helmet and corresponding human–computer interface. A significant part of the theoretical framework for this thesis was multiple resource theory: tasks in a different modality can be performed more effectively than in one already taxed attentively. Literature on human factors was also applied, particularly with regards to the perception of sound; evidence suggests that humans evolved a perceptual bias for threatening and ‘looming’ sounds that appear to encroach our peripersonal space; ethological findings point toward the association with low-frequency sounds to largeness. Sound design techniques usually applied to more artistic ends, such as synthesis and mixing, were repurposed for the novel, audiotactile context of this thesis. The thesis process was rooted in design thinking and consisted of four stages: context immersion, ideation, concept development, and lastly evaluation; converging and diverging the novel design space of using BCH in an audiotactile, i.e. bimodal way. The divergent approach generated a wide range of ideas. The later convergent approach did not result in one, definite design as further evaluation is required but also due to unknowns in terms of future hardware and network constraints. Given the plurality and diversity of cyclists, it may well follow that there is no optimal collision warning design in the singular. Hence, a range of five different solutions is presented. Each of the five multimodal collision warnings presents a different approach to conveying a sense of danger and urgency. Some warning signals are static in type, while others are more dynamic. Given the presumed rarity of collision warnings, multiple design techniques and rationales were applied separately, as well as in combination, to create different warning stimuli that signaled high urgency in an intuitive way. Namely, the use of: conventions in design and culture; explicitness in the form of speech; visceral appeal via threatening and animalistic timbres; dynamic and procedurally generated feedback; multimodal salience; crossmodal evocation of ‘roughness;’ size-sound symbolism to imply largeness; and innately activating characteristics of looming sounds. / Trafiken är en komplex miljö med många deltagare; diverse ny teknik gör anspråk på att underlätta denna komplexitet. Men, cyklister—en särskilt utsatt grupp av trafikanter—har hittills hamnat i skymundan för sådana utvecklingar. Vidare, aspekten av användbara gränssnitt för cyklister inom sådana uppkopplade och samverkande trafiksystem (C-ITS) har utforskats desto mindre. Det här examensarbetet inom Teknisk design presenterar fem multimodala kollisionsvarningar avsedda för cyklister—framtida sådana i dessa C-ITS—genom en ny och bimodal användning av benledande hörlurar via både ljud och vibrationer. Examensarbetet genomfördes i koppling till forskningsprojektet V2Cyclist, orkestrerat av RISE Interactive, vars projektmål var att anpassa det trådlösa kommunikationsprotokollet V2X för cyklister via en fysisk prototyp i form av en cykelhjälm och parallellt utveckla ett tillhörande användargränssnitt. En viktig del av det teoretiska ramverket för det här examensarbetet grundar sig på multiple resource theory: uppgifter kan utföras mer effektivt i en annan modalitet än i en som redan är belastad med uppmärksamhet. Mänskliga faktorer och teori om vår uppfattning användes; bevis pekar på att människor har evolutionärt utvecklat en bias för hotande ljud som upplevs inkräkta på vårt närmsta personliga revir; etologiska rön visar på en koppling mellan lågfrekventa ljud och ‘storhet.’ Tekniker inom ljuddesign vanligtvis använda till mer artistiska ändamål, såsom syntes och mixning, användes här till godo för att utforska den nya och bimodala designrymden. Processen för arbetet grundade sig i design thinking och bestod av fyra faser: kontextfördjupning, idégenerering, konceptutveckling, och utvärdering. En ny och tidigare outforskad designrymd beståendes av en bimodal, ljudtaktil användning av benledande hörlurar divergerades och konvergerades. Ett initialt utforskande angreppssätt gav upphov till en bred mängd av idéer. Ett senare renodlande angreppssätt gick, dock, inte hela vägen till endast en optimal lösning, då vidare utvärdering krävs men också på grund av okända teknologiska begränsningar. Dessutom, givet cyklisters stora mångfald, kan det möjligtvis följa att det inte finns någon enskild design av den optimala kollisionsvarningen. Ett spann på fem olika lösningar presenteras därmed. Fem koncept för multimodala kollisionsvarningar presenteras där varje variant uttrycker fara och kritiskhet på olika sätt. Vissa är statiska i typ, medan andra verkar mer kontinuerligt och dynamiskt. Det antogs att kollisionsvarningar sker sällan. Olika designtekniker och motiveringar har använts, ibland i kombination med varandra, för att skapa kollisionsvarningar vars avsikter omedelbart förstås: normer inom design och kultur gällande ljud; uttalad kommunikation i form av tal; anspråk på människors biologiska intuition via hotfulla och djurliknande klangfärger; dynamisk och procedurellt genererad feedback; multimodal effektfullhet; korsmodal känsla av grova texturer; size-sound symbolism för att antyda ‘storhet;’ samt de naturligt aktiverande egenskaperna hos looming sounds.