Stopping Position Matters: Drawing A Better Communication between Pedestrian and Driverless Automated Vehicles on Narrow Roads

Abstract

Automated vehicles (AVs) are expected to be used as mobility services for improving the quality of life in aging rural areas. In this study, we investigated problematic cases of interaction between pedestrians and AVs in Japanese rural areas and observed cases that occurred on narrow roads. To explore a better communication method when pedestrians interact with vehicles, a virtual reality experiment examined the impacts of two communication methods (external human-machine interface and vehicle movement) regarding two types of vehicles (golf cart and bus). The results showed that pedestrians could decide on crossing the road quickly when the AV attempted to reduce speed early and stopped maintaining an appropriate distance from pedestrians. The stopping position is an important contributor to pedestrian decision-making in crossing and attitude toward AVs. The findings of this study have implications for the design of future automated service vehicles in rural areas.