Real-World Road Crossing Decisions: Examining Pedestrian Gap Acceptance at the Mobility Innovation Campus Testbed

Pedestrians represent a particularly vulnerable road user-group (VRU), with their decision to cross a road having a significant impact on their own safety. To investigate and understand pedestrian behaviour, a study is designed at the Mobility Innovation Campus (MIC) testbed in Ottobrunn near Munich. This facility will allow for the execution of a field experiment in a realistic and safe environment. The study will analyse the gap acceptance (GA) of pedestrians as a function of vehicle size (e-scooter, car, semi-truck) and approach speed (10/20/30 km/h) under realistic conditions. It is to be expected that the GA values increase significantly with the vehicle size and the approach speed of the vehicles. The road crossing behaviour of pedestrians examined in this study could be compared to results of similar experiments involving other VRUs. This study will help improve automated vehicles (AV) behavioural models by incorporating VRU decision-making, leading to better AV control algorithms and safer interactions with pedestrians. Future research could evaluate different additional factors that influence road crossing behaviour such as road design, automation levels of vehicles and environmental conditions.