SCC-IRG Track 2: Making Micromobility Smarter and Safer (M2S2)

城市交通正在经历快速的变化，引入了新的微移动选项。这些包括共享电动滑板车，坐式滑板车，电动自行车和一系列其他选择。在这种新模式的组合中，行人在美国街道上面临着巨大的和不断增长的风险，因为道路设计迎合了司机和汽车在数量上占主导地位。2018年，超过6,000名行人在美国街头死亡，比2015年增加了14%，比2014年增加了27%。人类行为、道路设计、环境条件和技术都影响着碰撞的发生率，提高所有用户的交通安全可能需要在这些方面进行沿着改进。行人死亡和与电动滑板车相关的伤害的罕见性使得解开因果因素变得困难。因此，该项目的重点是车辆和行人，电动滑板车，电动自行车和自行车之间的“近距离”。该项目的目标是：（a）使用新方法收集更好的数据，以确定行人和微移动风险;（B）与行业微移动合作伙伴Bird合作，创建提供更多综合解决方案的工具;（c）测试工具，以满足新玩法和新泽西州高地公园的真实的社区的需求。这些工具将明确整合社会和技术解决方案，以提高安全性。 项目任务包括：（a）使用多个视觉传感器和先进的计算机视觉技术，建立增强的近距离检测能力;（B）使用两种传统工具进行行为实验（标识、临时道路重新配置）和智慧城市工具（配备传感器和联网的移动的参与者和交叉路口）;（c）进行技术实验，将其纳入行人、电动滑板车、电动自行车和驾驶员的手机应用程序原型;以及（d）召集社区审议进程，为制定当地智能交通计划提供信息。这一拟议项目的智力价值在于，首先，在开发一个测试台，配备评估社会，技术和综合风险降低战略，为弱势道路使用者。其中一个组成部分是改进计算机视觉算法，以更准确地检测行人，电动滑板车，电动自行车，车辆;测量轨迹（方向，速度）;测量近距离失误（减速，接近，回避行为）;并区分关键用户属性（服装亮度，性别，种族，尺寸）。一个相关的贡献是使用数字模型的建筑环境，以提高计算机视觉算法的性能，并允许空间明确跟踪不同的实体。第二个主要贡献是承认社会和技术战略的先后顺序和层次是综合减少风险组合的一部分。弱势的老人、儿童和代表性不足的少数民族行人和骑自行车的人将受益，因为他们目前面临的风险不成比例。该项目将涉及本科生和研究生的研究活动，通过多学科的顶点设计课程，夏季罗格斯大学的阿雷斯蒂本科研究计划，夏天的崛起（科学与工程研究）计划，介绍优秀的少数民族学生毕业-该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为是值得支持的，使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估。

Urban transportation is experiencing rapid changes with the introduction of new micro-mobility options. These include shared e-scooters, sit-down scooters, e-bikes, and a range of other options. Within this mix of new modes, pedestrians face substantial and growing risks on American streets where road designs cater to drivers and automobiles dominate numerically. Over 6,000 pedestrians died on U.S. streets in 2018, an 14% increase over 2015 and a 27% increase over 2014. Human behavior, road design, environmental conditions, and technology each influence the prevalence of crashes and improving traffic safety for all users likely requires improvements along several of these dimensions. The rarity of pedestrian fatalities and those injuries associated with e-scooters makes disentangling the causal factors difficult. Hence, this project focuses on “near misses” between vehicles and pedestrians, e-scooters, e-bikes, and bicycles. The objectives of this project are to (a) use new methods to gather better data on what determines pedestrian and micro-mobility risk, (b) create tools that deliver more integrated solutions in collaboration with industry micro-mobility partner Bird, and (c) test the tools in the service of the needs of the real communities of New Brunswick and Highland Park, NJ. These tools will explicitly integrate both the social and technology solutions to improve safety. Project tasks include: (a) create an enhanced near miss detection capability using multiple visual sensors and advanced computer vision techniques; (b) perform behavioral experiments using both traditional tools (signage, temporary road reconfigurations) and smart-city tools (sensor-equipped and networked mobile actors and intersections); (c) conduct technological experiments integrated into a prototype mobile-phone-based app for pedestrians, e-scooters, e-bikes, and drivers; and (d) convene a community deliberation process that informs development of a local smart transportation plan. The intellectual merit of this proposed project resides, first, in the development of a test bed equipped to evaluate social, technological, and integrated risk-reduction strategies for vulnerable road users. One component is the refinement of computer vision algorithms to much more accurately detect pedestrians, e-scooters, e-bikes, vehicles; measure trajectories (direction, velocity); measure near misses (deceleration, proximity, avoidance behavior); and distinguish key user attributes (clothing brightness, gender, race, size). A related contribution is to use digital models of the built environment to improve the performance of the computer vision algorithms and allow spatially explicit tracking of different entities. The second major contribution is to acknowledge the sequencing and layering of social and technological strategies as part of an integrated risk reduction portfolio. Vulnerable elderly, children, and under-represented minority pedestrians and cyclists will benefit because they are currently at disproportionate risk. The project will involve undergraduate and graduate students in the research activities through multidisciplinary capstone design classes, the summer Rutgers' Aresty Undergraduate Research Program, and the summer RISE (Research in Science and Engineering) program which introduces outstanding minority students to graduate-level research through summer jobs with research groups.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.