16:30 - 18:00
Mon-B17-Talk III-
Mon-Talk III-
Room: B17
Chair/s:
Mark Vollrath
The first part of the symposium examines basic cognitive functions in the context of traffic. Working memory is an essential requirement for situation awareness and is examined in an experimental approach with regard to the amount of information and the time passed since perceiving the information. The following two presentations focus on influencing factors for another basic perceptual aspect required for save behavior in traffic, namely time-to-collision estimation. The first of these examines the role of auditory and audiovisual cues while the second works on improving these estimations. The second part shifts to a more applied approach: The fourth presentation examines a neuro-VR approach to examine one of the most accident-prone situations in traffic, driving at intersections. The fifth presentation shifts the focus from cars to bicyclists. In line with current trends to increase the frequency of cycling, an experimental study examines which characteristics of roads are relevant for cyclists and why. The last presentation again shifts the focus to another future part of traffic, namely urban air vehicles and their acceptance. Overall, this symposium demonstrates the width of current traffic psychology research.
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Why does a cyclist prefer certain routes?
Mon-B17-Talk III-04
Presented by: Frauke Berghoefer
Frauke Berghoefer, Mark Vollrath
Technische Universität Braunschweig, Traffic and Engineering Psychology
To offer attractive cycling infrastructure in order to promote cycling, it is crucial to examine how attractiveness is defined by cyclists and which route characteristics contribute to an attractive route. In a previous study, we inductively found five criteria that cyclists use to evaluate the quality of routes. The current study aims to examine how route characteristics are evaluated on these five criteria and whether this evaluation reflects the cyclists’ preferences towards certain routes.
In a bicycle simulator, N = 39 participants cycled thirteen street segments that varied in the facility type, the volume of motor and pedestrian traffic, the occurrence of traffic lights or intersections, and in gradient. Participants were asked to rate each segment in total and in terms of the five criteria, and to state the best and worst characteristic of the segment. After the ride, participants were further asked to rank all segments according to their preference.
Results strengthen previous findings on facility evaluations, but further show that sharing the road with many pedestrians is perceived as more attention demanding, but not more stressful than sharing the road with heavy motor traffic. Interestingly, a shared footpath is still preferred over a shared street. Results further indicate that the contribution of the criteria to the total rating varies between the routes. Overall, the findings provide interesting insights into cyclists’ route evaluation and demonstrate once again that various characteristics influence each other and form an overall route quality that is more than just the sum of its parts.
Keywords: bicycle simulator study, route preference, cycling facilities, comfort, stress
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