Abstract
IntroductionIncreasing numbers of deployment projects of automated shuttles have been taking place worldwide. Safety is one of the main concerns for their successful implementation. Therefore, it is vital to gain the knowledge about interactions between these shuttles and other traffic participants.MethodGiven the lack of behavioural observational studies under regular traffic conditions, the presented study applies external video recordings to explore encounters between the shuttles approaching a T-intersection and other traffic participants. The encounters of interest included a vulnerable road user in the bicycle lane, a pedestrian on the zebra crossing and a road user overtaking the shuttle. The shuttles were identified from the video by RUBA software. We analysed the encounters using T-Analyst software together with the manual observation of traffic participants' behaviour.ResultsFrom 220 h of video, 318 unique manoeuvres of the shuttle were observed and 83 encounters with other traffic participants were identified and explored. Several types of risks and behavioural patterns were identified, such as road users misusing the defensive style of the shuttles or cyclists in the bicycle lane not being sure about the shuttle’s intention. Frequent hard stops of the shuttles might be dangerous for the passengers inside and can increase the risk of rear end accidents.ConclusionsThe findings provide a valuable insight into the interactions between automated shuttles and other traffic participants under regular traffic conditions on one location in Oslo, Norway. The study showed that introducing automated shuttles into regular traffic can lead to the emergence of new types of interactions between the shuttles and other traffic participants.
Highlights
Increasing numbers of deployment projects of automated shuttles have been taking place worldwide
Frequent hard stops of the shuttles might be dangerous for the passengers inside and can increase the risk of rear end accidents
The findings provide a valuable insight into the interactions between automated shuttles and other traffic participants under regular traffic conditions on one location in Oslo, Norway
Summary
Increasing numbers of deployment projects of automated shuttles have been taking place worldwide. Automated shuttles (further referred as “shuttle”) are low speed electrical minibuses that are able to drive without a driver. In most projects, they operate at SAE automation. Since 2018, thirteen pilot projects have been carried out in ten Norwegian municipalities They have been deployed in low-speed environments such as a shared space, a sea promenade, a pedestrian zone and a residential area, typically in places without any previous public transport. Most of pilots have taken place under regular traffic conditions on public roads. The pilots have had a variety of aims, such as testing V2X communication with traffic signals, studying the effects on travel behaviour of residents, evaluating the interactions with vulnerable road users, testing their performance in winter conditions or their suitability for an on-demand service [5]
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