Research

Lead Researcher(s)

Shan Bao
Associate Professor of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering, College of Engineering and Computer Science, the University of Michigan-Dearborn, Associate Research Scientist, Human Factors, University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute and Intermittent Lecturer in Industrial and Operations Engineering, College of Engineering

Aditi Misra

Project Team

Huizhong Guo

Project Abstract

Pedestrians are the most vulnerable road users and are at risk of severe consequences when involved in traffic accidents. In the United States, recent pedestrian fatalities have been significantly increasing. While the introduction of Automated Vehicle (AV) systems provides great opportunities to increase safety and mobility for pedestrians, new challenges are also being generated. For example, AV system and VRU interaction is an area where safety challenges still remain to be addressed.
The objectives of this task are to gain a thorough understanding of the needs and challenges related to pedestrians interacting and communicating with AV transportation systems.
Two main research questions will be addressed in this study including:
1. What are the typical crash scenarios and context for pedestrians with current transportation systems and AV systems?
2. How do pedestrians interact and communicate with Level 4 AV shuttles?

Project Outcome

1. A clean and comprehensive dataset for each driver-pedestrian interaction & communication event.
2. Quantitative results on AV and pedestrian interaction measures.
3. A set of common crash scenarios involving AVs and pedestrians.
4. Classification of AV and pedestrian communications.
5. A final report, including detailed description of study methodology, data collection, data analysis, and results. At least one peer-reviewed conference/journal article will be generated.