Rethinking Vulnerability: Perception, Behaviour, and Power Differentials in Mixed Road-User Interactions

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Classifying road users based on their characteristics allows researchers and policy makers to make general distinctions between different types of road users who may have different needs. The classification vulnerable road user (VRU) is frequently used to describe road users who are not protected by the frame of a vehicle and considered to be high-risk (e.g., motorcyclist, cyclist, pedestrian). However, there is a body of research challenging this classification, highlighting the emphasis it places on road users as 'vulnerable' rather than the vulnerabilities caused by external factors, such as infrastructure design and the behaviour of other road-users. Although this critique is not new, the issues identified in this critical literature are not coherently addressed in empirical work involving these road users that uses the VRU construct and forms assumptions based on it.This research will explore alternative approaches to categorising road users, particularly those considered vulnerable, and using these categories to understand road-user interactions through modelling and analysis. The project comprises three phases: a theoretical phase to develop the conceptual foundations for the approach, an experimental phase to identify important road user characteristics, and a synthesis phase to consider potential implementation pathways for this research, which could potentially make a valuable original contribution to understandings of road user interactions, policy, and the application of road-user modelling techniques in autonomous systems and infrastructure design. The first phase will examine how the VRU classification is understood across disciplines, explore VRU behaviour and power differentials on the road, and evaluate how the classification is currently operationalised in modelling and analysis. The first study will employ mixed methods and use secondary census and transport use data, route planning analysis, and photo ethnography to understand the factors that can act as 'hinge points', where VRUs change their route or mode of transport. The second study will systematically analyse existing approaches used to interpret VRU behaviours and intentions in transport modelling and predictive systems and how the factors identified in study one are incorporated. This initial work provides a foundation to understand the state of the art, identify important factors that influence VRU behaviour, and identify priorities and metrics used in modelling.The second phase will examine the psychological processes underpinning road user behaviour. This will focus on how road users perceive the roadway, how they build mental models of what's going on, and how they understand and predict the behaviour of other road users from different classes. This work will focus on high-risk interactions, or situations where there are clear power differentials between road users, as identified in literature and through research conducted in phase one. The aim of this phase is to analyse the processes and power dynamics underlying road user behaviours in a way that can be implemented in empirical modelling methodologies. The final phase of this research will focus on identifying pathways to implement the findings to support the adoption of sustainable transport, modelling road user behaviour, and planning for mixed-use roadway to maximise research impact.