CAREER: Improving Bicycling Safety by Developing a Research Framework for Studying Driver-Bicyclist Interactions

该学院早期职业发展(CAROR)奖支持通过探索改善自行车安全的方法来促进环境可持续、积极和公平的交通方式的安全性的研究。长期以来，骑自行车一直是一种重要的出行方式，因为它具有环境、健康和经济效益。尽管如此，在美国，骑自行车在很大程度上仍未得到充分利用。在机动化交通中骑自行车的危险让许多人望而却步，不愿将其作为一种可行的出行选择。NSF的这笔拨款将填补这一知识空白，以更好地了解司机和骑自行车的人如何在现实世界的道路设计背景下相互作用，以及塑造他们行为的关键因素。这项研究的结果将为工程师和实践者、城市规划者以及政策制定者和立法者提供数据驱动的见解，以设计更安全的道路基础设施、自行车设施、交通法律法规、培训和教育计划以及安全技术。研究活动与教育活动相结合，以培养当地K-12学生对STEM领域的兴趣，并培训下一代科学家和工程师，以努力实现可持续和积极的流动性将在其中发挥关键作用的城市未来。这个项目的主要研究问题是：(A)在道路设计的背景下，司机和骑自行车的人是如何相互作用的；(B)司机和骑自行车的人发生碰撞和冲突的关键因素和潜在机制是什么；以及(C)研究人员如何系统地在主动出行安全研究中产生数据驱动的见解？为此，这笔赠款将开发一个包含各种互补方法和技术的自行车安全研究框架，包括：(1)使用自然驾驶、自行车和无人机数据从互补的角度对真实世界的自然环境进行观察研究；(2)使用高保真虚拟现实自行车和驾驶模拟器在安全、可控和可复制的环境中进行实验室实验；(3)骑自行车者伤亡的碰撞数据分析；以及(4)计算建模和模拟。将研究一些常见和危险的司机与骑自行车的人相互作用的类型，包括超车和与十字路口相关的冲突。涉及司机和车辆、自行车骑行者和道路基础设施的广泛因素将通过替代安全措施衡量它们对自行车安全的影响。这项研究还整合了许多工具，包括大数据、因果推理、人为因素、虚拟现实、激光雷达传感和计算人体建模。此外，还将开发一个司机和骑自行车的人相互作用的开源数据库，以支持更广泛的交通研究社区。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award supports research to advance the safety of environmentally sustainable, active, and equitable mobility modes by exploring ways to improve bicycling safety. Bicycling has long been an important mobility mode for its environmental, health, and economic benefits. Nonetheless, bicycling is still largely underutilized in the U.S. The perceived danger of bicycling in motorized traffic has deterred many from considering it as a viable mobility option. This NSF grant will fill the knowledge gap to better understand how drivers and bicyclists interact with each other in the context of real-world roadway designs, and the key factors that shape their behaviors. The outcome of this research will support engineers and practitioners, city planners, and policymakers and legislators by providing data-driven insights to design safer road infrastructures, bicycle facilities, traffic laws and regulations, training and education programs, and safety technologies. The research activities are integrated with educational activities to foster local K-12 students' interests in STEM fields and train the next generation of scientists and engineers to work towards the urban future in which sustainable and active mobility will play a key role. The outreach to the local communities and dissemination of the online free educational materials on bicycling safety will promote active mobility modes to the general public nationwide.The main research questions of this project are (a) how do drivers and bicyclists interact with each other in the context of roadways designs, (b) what are the key factors and underlying mechanisms for driver-bicyclist crashes and conflicts, and (c) how can researchers systematically generate data-driven insights in active mobility safety research? To this end, this grant will develop a bicycling safety research framework that incorporates a variety of complementary methodologies and technologies, including (1) observational studies in real-world natural settings from complementary perspectives using naturalistic driving, cycling, and drone data; (2) laboratory experiments in a safe, controlled, and replicable environment using high-fidelity virtual reality cycling and driving simulators; (3) crash data analysis of bicyclist fatalities and injuries; and (4) computational modeling and simulation. A number of common and dangerous driver-bicyclist interaction types will be examined, including overtaking bicyclists and intersection-related conflicts. A wide range of factors involving driver and vehicle, bicyclist, and road infrastructure will be examined for their effects on bicycling safety measured by surrogate safety measures. This research also integrates many tools including big data, causal inference, human factors, virtual reality, lidar sensing, and computational human modeling. In addition, an open-source data repository of driver-bicyclist interactions will be developed to support the broader transportation research community.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.