Advances in Human Aspects of Transportation: Part III

AHFE International

Accelerating Open Access Science in Human Factors Engineering and Human-Centered Computing

Advances in Human Aspects of Transportation: Part III

book-cover

Editors: Neville Stanton, Steven Landry, Giuseppe Di Bucchianico, Andrea Vallicelli

Topics: Transportation Engineering

Publication Date: 2022

ISBN: 978-1-4951-2099-2

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe100717

Articles

Human Diversity: A Limit or an Opportunity in the Maritime Design Domain?

The complexity of contemporary society can be described also through the diversity between individuals, expressed not only in terms of mental and physical capabilities, but also with respect to social and cultural differences. Diversity, however, can be considered as a limit or a resource for the economic development of society. Design for inclusion has already shown that confront the human diversity, in a different way than traditional ergonomics has done so far, represents a major opportunity in the first place for business, becoming an extraordinary lever of communication, expanding the market dimensions, differentiating the production and retaining customers, but more importantly, it determines a positive effect for the entire social system and for the collective well-being. This inclusive and participatory approach to design, is growing also in the specialized productive sector of maritime transportation design. The paper offers a critical reflection on the need to confront the issues of inclusion and participation in the design of products, systems and services related to specialist areas such as maritime transportation. Through synthetic remarks about good practices, we highlight the benefits and opportunities that the spread of a design approach considering human diversity can determine also for the maritime transportation domain.

Giuseppe Di Bucchianico

Conference Proceedings

Water-based Public Transport Accessibility.A Case Study in theInternal Waters of Northern Italy

Accessibility to public transport systems is a key factor for the social inclusion and quality of life of people with disabilities. This paper presents an analysis of the accessibility of the water public transport service run by Navigazione Laghi on lakes Maggiore, Como and Garda in Northern Italy. The study is focused on ‘water buses’, namely small ferries operating on short, scheduled routes, with one or two decks, that do not transport vehicles and that are not equipped with bed cabins. In particular, as a case study, this paper examines a ferry of the series Airone, 24 m passenger-only units built in 2008‒2011. These units are relevant because they represent about 10% of the whole fleet of Navigazione Laghi.

Sebastiano Ercoli, Andrea Ratti, Silvia Piardi

Conference Proceedings

DfD_UD_ID_DfA: Design for Inclusion in Sailing Yacht Design

“Design for Inclusion” is a method that includes various way of thinking, for example: DfD_Design for Disability, UD_Universal Design, ID_Inclusive Design, DfA_Design for All. Today these disciplines are often evaluated in the same way; UD, ID, DfD are frequently used as synonymous. Actually there are many differences among them. To shed some light on this problem can help us to work better and to understand the importance that these disciplines have on yacht sailing design today. This Paper shows the result of the first step of a research for University G. D’Annunzio (Chieti-Pescara, Italy), Architecture and Design Department, in order to complete a three year Ph.D. At the end of the third year the target to goal is to put the final touch on an analysis system that should be useful to distinguish the foretold methods by studying the sailing yacht. On this document we can read the theory back on the research and we can find the most similar features and differences among DfD, UD, ID, DfD methods. Continuing we can read about how “Design for Inclusion” influenced sailing yacht design using also historical examples.

Jessica Lagatta

Conference Proceedings

Human Factors in Yacht Designfor Older Adults

An ergonomics oriented toward older adults has responded to increasing social expectations, particularly since late in the 20th century. The popularity of yachting as a form of recreation for the middle class has grown since 1945, while average life expectancy has increased considerably over the past few years only, reflecting improved general economic conditions, better healthcare and nutrition. A higher general retirement age, and advancements in all life phases, also associated to a larger access to higher education have enabled the financial independence and economic security of adults in old age. Until late in the 20th century, adults aged between 60 to 70 years were frequently regarded as an old age group. Individuals who lived to age 90 may have been considered decrepit at the time. Conversely, individuals aged 80 or 90 today sport, on average, a high degree of interest for life and unprecedented physical potentiality. This vitality is also in association with the upper middle classes in terms of income and wealth, which is normally related to older adults. This potentiality to acquire and own costly goods, and a yacht is one, is arguably in reference to these classes of older individuals. To look for ergonomic design concepts that facilitate yachting for older adults is key to the future success of the industry vis-à-vis this new potential market.

Massimo Musio-Sale

Conference Proceedings

Living Aboard with Kids and Pets

This research has a key focus on yachting as a popular family recreation with the middle classes that explains how the performance of the yachting industry remained stable vis-à-vis the luxury segment during this economic crisis. Today, the average middle class family has two children, and companion animals are an integral part of this organization. Animals and children share similar ergonomics, psychology ad behaviors, which facilitates the definition of ad-hoc designs for both. Good ergonomics in yacht design enhances the enjoyableness of the yachting experience for families and pets. The bottom line is a Design for All concept of an inclusive spatial environment. In this research we argue that ad-hoc design helps dismiss the stereotype that people quit yachting when a child is born or a dog is taken in. Behavioral rules tend normally to focus more on survivability than on livability: ergonomics must consistently tackle issues in this respect.

Valentina Solera

Conference Proceedings

Reducing Crew Size of Future Naval Ships Using a Method Suite for Analysis, Design, Simulation and Evaluation

In the coming decade, the Royal Netherlands Navy is planning to replace a number of maritime platform types. The starting points for these replacements have changed importantly, compared to those of the current and past generations. The focus is on manning reduction with three main reasons. First, the endangerment of defense personnel’s life should be minimized. Second, technical personnel are increasingly harder to find, especially for the maritime sector, which endangers the operational maintainability of future vessels. Third, the life cycle costs should decrease by lowering the personnel cost component. Accordingly, the Navy is defining future platforms and setting goals to reduce the crew size by a revolutionary 30 to 50%. This paper describes the application of an integrated methods suite that supports the development of cost-effective and efficient future platforms with significantly less technical personnel. One of the conclusion is that such integration of methods leads to better defined methodological concepts that are easier to share, which is essential for multidisciplinary research and multi-party innovation.

Wilfried Post a, Jurriaan van Diggelen a, Marleen Rakhorst-Oudendijk a, Marc Grootjen b

Conference Proceedings

Maritime Simulator Training: Eye-Trackers to Improve Training Experience

The purpose of the present study was to explore the utility of eye tracking technology as a feedback tool in maritime simulator training to assess the trainee performance and to provide more valuable feedback for enhancing trainee-trainer experience. In maritime domain, advanced simulators are used to prepare students for extremely demanding and safety critical operations. However, very little study has been done to develop tools to improve learning as well as measure the learning outcomes. Current training assessment methods are mostly subjective and mainly rely on instructor’s verbal feedback. This paper researches new training method based on eye tracking technology for simulator training, and discusses their application to offshore maritime training. Dynamic positioning (DP) training has been chosen for this study since it is a mandatory system to have installed onboard all modern offshore vessels. A study was conducted with 10 first year nautical students to evaluate this new training method. An assessment checklist for the training outcome was developed based on best practices compliant with NWEA guidelines and used to quantify the student’s performance and to contrast the effectiveness of the new training method with the older one. Results from the study suggest that instructors were able to follow students more closely and were 43% more accurate in assessing their performance in simulator when eye trackers were used. Also using eye tracker, instructors managed to point out some bad practices of students such as too much attention on DP GUIs, which was otherwise not possible to monitor.

Sathiya kumar Renganayagalu a Sashidharan Komandur b, Robert Rylander b

Conference Proceedings

Differences in Workload of Both Skippers and Pilots Due to Changes in Environmental Bank Lights

In the case a sea harbour is located in an inland area, seagoing vessels have to sail a part of their journey in inland waterways. On these approach channels the inland water regulation prescribes specific bridge equipment. Inland vessels fulfil this regulation, the seagoing vessels not, but get dispensation with a pilot on board. The question arises how differences in working strategy (resulting from different ship characteristics and equipment) express in differences in workload. The effect of changes in environmental bank lights (puddle lights) on both inland skippers and pilots is studied in a manoeuvring simulator using physiological workload measurements. Event analysis is based on a combination of analytical indicators (distance between vessels) and cognitive processes like interpreting perceived visual information. Results demonstrated that the effect of changes in puddle light is different for skippers and pilots. Differences in vessel and bridge settings are indeed expressed in working strategy and result in differences in workload. Inland skippers give effort to continuous steering corrections and are, compared to the pilots, less used to anticipate on future actions. In the absence of puddle light, the skippers mental spare capacity decreases clearly. Although the subjective opinion of the pilots indicate an increase of demand, the objective measures do not show a considerable increase.

Wendie Uitterhoeve, Melcher Zeilstra

Conference Proceedings

Sailing as Stroke Rehabilitation Strategy

Stroke (brain attack), is a serious global public health problem and the main cause of many forms of disability. The majority of stroke survivors are mostly left with motor (muscle movement or mobility) impairments. Although remarkable developments have been made in drug treatment, post-stroke care continues to rely on rehabilitation interventions mostly. On the other hand, the presence of post-stroke depression has been associated with decreases in functional recovery, social activity and cognition. Therefore, this project aims to improve the quality of people’s lives after a stroke by introducing sailing as outdoor mobility rehabilitation. It is intended to increase the patients’ motivation and engagement in the rehabilitation process by a more enjoyable and relaxing intervention than the existing ones especially for long term periods. The project, based on a haptic system installed on the deck of NYTEC 28 sailing boat, aim to monitoring rehab process development in post-stroke during normal sailing activity.

Maximiliano Romero, Giuseppe Andreoni, Silvia Piardi

Conference Proceedings

Climbing Decision Ladders To Analyse Ecodriving: The First Rung on the Way to

This paper presents the initial stage of the design of an in-vehicle ecodriving support tool, namely the analysis phase. In order to understand the types of behaviours that characterise fuel-efficient driving a review was conducted, covering both the academic literature and more publicly available web resources, such as advice provided by governmental websites, car manufacturers’ websites, and specific ecodriving organisations. The review resulted in the identification of four distinct driving activities, each related to the use of the accelerator pedal, that play a crucial role in the use of fuel in the private road vehicle. A preliminary attempt at modelling these activities using Jens Rasmussen’s Decision Ladder approach was made, with the resulting models being discussed in a focus group. Then followed a series of four interviews with ecodriving experts; these served to validate, supplement, and further specify the models into five activities. One of these models is discussed in detail, drawing on theory from the Skills, Rules and Knowledge taxonomy and the Direct Manipulation Interface approach. Finally, some suggestions are offered as to how this analysis may go on to inform an in-vehicle, ecodriving support system.

Fuel-Efficient Driving

Conference Proceedings

The Future of Social Transport: ‘a good idea, but…’

The current emphasis on congestion, pollution, quality of the transport experience and the spiralling costs of energy has led to a growth of interest in social transport, such as those offered by car and lift share schemes. Together with greener fuel and the use of technology, it is possible to widen the transport choices available to consumers. However, there has been a reported reluctance on the part of users in the UK to join up to local and national car and lift share schemes, even those that would seem to offer benefits in terms of lower costs, congestion and carbon reduction. This paper reports on qualitative research carried out by Coventry University into perceptions of social transport.

Jane Osmond, Andree Woodcock, Jason Begley, Katerina Frankova

Conference Proceedings

Passenger Needs on Mobile Information Systems – Field Evaluation in Public Transport

Passenger information is an essential part of public transport and mobility in general. Enabling passengers to plan their journey, to check travel times and routes as well as prices and local information. Technological developments have made information available, e.g. real-time information of vehicles, which supports seamless information before and during the trip. These developments have lead to new information systems along the travel chain, e.g. real-time information displays at stop points, interactive public displays or mobile passenger applications. In this regard, mobile passenger information systems often serve as personal assistants along the journey, providing necessary information for the individual journey of each passenger. Designing these systems for different users and for different journeys, requires knowledge about when and where information and functions are needed along the journey. This knowledge enables developers to design these systems more in regard to the user’s needs. This paper shows a user and context depended evaluation of a mobile passenger information system and an assessment of twenty different functions, related to the fulfillment of information needs along the journey and the creation of added value.

Stephan Hörold, Cindy Mayas, Heidi Krömker

Conference Proceedings

Development of Future Scenarios: Prediction of Mental Workload in a Traffic Management Control Room

Existing instruments to investigate mental workload are dedicated to specific and existing monitoring jobs. Objective instruments mostly focus on performance or physiological measures. Subjective instruments are more simply applicable, but not suitable to predict mental workload in a nonexistent situation. To overcome these disadvantages Intergo developed OWATTM (Objective Workload Assessment Technique) to assess mental workload of operators in control rooms. A case study shows the use of OWATTM in development of scenarios for the near future of the traffic management control room of the city of Amsterdam, when new build tunnels are under super- vision of the central traffic management control room of the city of Amsterdam. Prediction of workload was key issue in this scenario development. The jobs assessed are traffic managers of the city of Amsterdam. The OWAT™ assessment made it possible to point out the bottlenecks in workload in current situation and future situation. The highly participative way of assessment of workload was appreciated by participating traffic managers. Results showed that there was an opportunity for a higher ambition in traffic management in the city of Amsterdam.

Melcher Zeilstra, Marit Wilms, Fenneke Blommers, David de Bruijn

Conference Proceedings

To Beep or Not to Beep: Developing a Non Fail-Safe Warning System in a Fail-Safe Train Protection Environment

In The Netherlands the most deployed train protection system (ATB-EG) leaves a ‘gap’ below 40 km/h, leading to about 200 signals passed at danger per year. A new warning system (ORBIT) was to fill this gap to a large extent by warning the train driver when approaching a red signal at (too) high speed. ORBIT is not fail-safe, because it is based on GSM-R/UMTS communication and GPS. The design concept and different design solutions of this imperfect automated system were tested with 17 train drivers in a train simulator, and during four weeks in actual service on one route. Results indicate that ORBIT is effective in identifying hazardous situations. Train drivers accepted the warning system. They preferred a warning that is infrequent, diminishing uncertainty, but leaving just enough time to react adequately. A spoken warning was preferred to a tone warning. Results also indicated that minor adjustments in the algorithm were needed to avoid too many unnecessary warnings.

Richard van der Weide, Kirsten Schreibers, Colete Weeda

Conference Proceedings

Increasing the Vocational Action Competences of Rail Traffic Controllers by Creating a Virtual Learning Environment for Trainees

In Germany railway operations underlie a vast number of complex rules and regulations. Therefore rail traffic controllers, who are responsible for save and hitch-free railway operations, need a profound knowledge and action competencies to consider the regulations in everyday work. Before being able to work as rail traffic controllers, they have passed an apprenticeship of three years. In addition, because of local characteristics of tracks and infrastructure, a rail traffic controller needs an instruction phase for a couple of months, just to be able to work at one single signal box. To cope with the high demands of the job, a virtual learning environment for trainees was created to increase their vocational action competences, to enhance their knowledge and to ease the passage to job. A prototype of the software was created using a usability engineering approach. A strong collaboration with rail traffic controllers and potential users ensured the usability of the system. The final concept and prototype of the learning environment will be presented in this paper. It consists of three different learning sections and one test section, where trainees can check their knowledge.

Sandra Dietsch, Anja Naumann

Conference Proceedings

Developing Bayesian Belief Networks to Support Risk-Based Decision Making in Railway Operations

This paper presents research conducted to model the factors influencing Railway Lookout behaviour in a Bayesian Belief Network (BBN). Railway Lookouts are responsible for monitoring the approach of trains and warning their colleagues to clear the track before the train passes. As such, it is a responsible job which requires a high degree of vigilance and lapses in vigilance can have major consequences. The work presented here has attempted to identify and model the factors affecting vigilance in a BBN in order to provide decision support for judging the risks involved in Lookout operations on a daily basis. An understanding of the lookout task was achieved through the use of interviews, workshops, an on-site observation, and a literature review including internal reports from the infrastructure manager and from these the model was developed. The paper details the factors included and their justification and presents the initial results of the BBN. The final Bayesian Network reveals that a Lookout’s efficacy within the lookout task is not sot solely determined by vigilance factors but also auditory, visual and interpersonal factors. The Network shows that Vigilance is dependent on a number of other factors, divided among internal, external, and environmental attention. The paper also discusses the implications of the Network, its potential applications, and possible avenues of further research.

Brendan Molloy a, Nora Balfe a, Emma Loweb

Conference Proceedings

Detection or Appraisal – Do Their Eye Movements Reveal What Causes Novices’ Poor Performance in a Dynamic Hazard Perception Test?

According to Grayson et al. , risk behavior in driving consists of hazard detection, threat appraisal, action selection and implementation. Hazard perception tests often include the task to react quickly to hazards within traffic scenarios. Thus, two components of risk behavior are included in one measure and therefore confounded: hazard detection and threat appraisal. Tracking the eye movements, researchers found evidence for novices having deficits regarding hazard detection . In contrast, Hystegge et al. revealed, that novice drivers were as fast as expert drivers in looking at still hazards but needed more time to evaluate them. The aim of the present eye tracking experiment was to investigate, whether experienced drivers outperform novices with regard to hazard detection or threat appraisal. 22 experienced drivers and 15 learner drivers were presented 32 animated traffic scenarios in a computer based hazard perception test. The depended variables were accuracy and speed of hazard detection (first fixation) and threat appraisal (reaction after detection). Experts outperformed novices clearly in hazard detection: They focused on more hazards and detected them faster than the novices. Moreover, after having detected a hazard, experts react to it more reliable but not faster than the novices.

Sarah Malone, Roland Brünken

Conference Proceedings

Training Needs Research Applied to the Development of a Standardised Incident Investigator Training Framework

In response to the rail industry lacking a consistently accepted standard of minimal training to perform incident investigations, the Australasian rail industry requested the development of a unified approach to investigator training. This paper details how the findings from a training needs analysis were applied to inform the development of a standardised training package for rail incident investigators. Data from job descriptions, training documents and subject matter experts sourced from 17 Australasian organisations were analysed and refined to yield a draft set of 10 critical competencies. Finally the draft of critical competencies was reviewed by industry experts to verify the accuracy and completeness of the competency list and to consider the most appropriate level of qualification for training development. The competencies identified and the processes described to translate research into an applied training framework in this paper, can be generalised to assist practitioners and researchers in developing industry approved standardised training packages.

Tamara D. Banks, Herbert C. Biggs, Nathan Dovan

Conference Proceedings

The Critical Factors in Human Error that Lead to Express Bus Accidents in Malaysia

The purpose of this paper is to determine the critical factor in human error that contributes towards express bus accidents. Three main attributes in human error are discussed, which are physical, mental and experience. Thus, this research aims in finding the highest contributor in human error and the main concern in road safety regarding express bus. This research was conducted in which a user opinion and experience on factor causes express bus accidents is accounted with a total of 287 respondents which consist of bus driver, bus passengers or victims, firemen, police officer, express bus management companies and officers of road safety agency participated. The factor analysis method was utilised and the factors attributing to human error was extracted and interpreted. This research indicates that physical, mental and experience attributes of the express bus driver do contribute in human errors towards accidents. It was found that mental attributes of the bus driver has high effect on contributing to human error towards express bus accidents and driver’s sleepiness was the biggest concern in the express bus accident causes. Other attributes were discussed more in this paper and somehow provide an interesting insight of plausible cause of express bus accident.

Sharifah Liew, Phoebe Francis, Chen Teck Foong

Conference Proceedings

Development of an Inference System for Drivers’ Driving Style and Workload Sensitivity from their Demographic Characteristics

This paper describes an investigation of the relationships among drivers’ demographic characteristics, their driving style, and their workload sensitivity using questionnaire surveys. The driver’s demographic characteristics included age, gender, driving experience, annual mileage, driving frequency, and region. The driving style was assessed using the driving style questionnaire (DSQ) that presents the driver’s personal features about driving attitudes We evaluated the drivers’ workload sensitivity using the workload sensitivity questionnaire (WSQ) that suggests what kinds of elements in driving contexts force the driver to increase the mental workload. 1616 drivers around Japan participated in the questionnaire surveys. Bayesian network modeling was applied to the responses obtained from the questionnaire surveys. The estimated Bayesian network models present that “gender” influences more factors of the DSQ and WSQ compared to the other demographic characteristics. The models indicate that no influences of the “driving frequency” were found in the DSQ and WSQ and no influences of the “driving experience” were found in the WSQ. We use the estimated Bayesian models to infer the distributions of the DSQ and WSQ factors from the driver’s demographic characteristics, and evaluate one driver’s score of the DSQ and WSQ compared to the other drivers with the same demographic characteristics. In addition, this inference system could be used to select the target drivers who have the focusing driving style or workload sensitivity.

Toshihisa Sato, Motoyuki Akamatsu

Conference Proceedings

One Day in the Life of a Persona – A Framework to Define Mobility Agendas

This paper extends the approach of personas in public transport with a framework to define different mobility agendas. These mobility agendas aim to support the development of mobility information systems and mobile applications, in general, by strengthening the understanding of different mobility behaviors in combination with the advantages of personas. The presented results are based on a representative broad dataset and the analysis of agenda items in daily life. The described approach consists of three steps, which provide the necessary variables and values, as well as patterns to describe mobility agendas.

Cindy Mayas, Stephan Hörold, Tobias Wienken, Heidi Krömker

Conference Proceedings

Driving Ability Index (DAI) for Assessing Elderly People’s Performance

Aging results in a physiological decline in physical, cognitive and sensory abilities, which are required for executing complex tasks such as driving (Metzner et al, 1993). Accident rates are higher for older drivers and increase exponentially for over 75 year olds (Guerrier, et al. 1999). Moreover accidents in which elderly persons are involved are characterized by more severe injuries, due to the decline in their physical condition, owing to comorbidities and skeletal fragility. It is important to stress that not all older drivers are dangerous (Langford, et al., 2006): on the contrary they drive cautiously and their experience can outweigh the physical disadvantages. In addition, they are aware of their limitations at the wheel and thus behave prudently and rarely commit traffic offences. One major problem of general interest is associated with the fact that elderly persons are the fastest growing segment within the population and the ability to drive is one way of maintaining their autonomy and independence as well as social participation (Fonda et al., 2001). For this reason, there is an increasing need to evaluate objectively the physical and mental fitness of older drivers. The aim of this study is to identify an index for measuring and monitoring the driving ability of elderly persons. The tool proposed was developed by adapting the Work Ability Index (Ilmarinen J., 1999), widely used in occupational medicine to evaluate the ability to work, to evaluate the ability todrive. Like the Work Ability Index (WAI), the Driving Ability Index (DAI) is calculated on the basis of appropriately processed responses to a series of questions contained in a questionnaire. Based on the responses, the index value is calculated, which can vary from 7 to 49. In this way it is possible to identify the level of ability of elderly persons at the wheel. The survey involved 54 older drivers over the age of 65. The objective of the study was to develop an easy-to-manage tool for measuring and monitoring the driving ability of elderly persons, that can also be used for driving licence renewal. The utility of such a tool for a population of vulnerable road users lies in its ability to detect early signs of a decline in driving skills and devise actions to strengthen their positive abilities and reduce risks while driving.

Michele Meloni a, Claudia Pinna b, Luigi Lecca c, Gianfranco Fancello b

Conference Proceedings

Automatic Inference of Driving Task Demand from Visual Cues of Emotion and Attention

Sensing the mental, physical and emotional demand of a driving task is of primary importance in road safety research and for effectively designing in-vehicle information systems (IVIS). Particularly, the need of cars capable of sensing and reacting to the emotional state of the driver has been repeatedly advocated in the literature. Algorithms and sensors to identify patterns of human behavior, such as gestures, speech, eye gaze and facial expression, are becoming available by using low cost hardware: This paper presents a new system which uses surrogate measures such as facial expression (emotion) and head pose and movements (intention) to infer task difficulty in a driving situation. 11 drivers were recruited and observed in a simulated driving task that involved several pre-programmed events aimed at eliciting emotive reactions, such as being stuck behind slower vehicles, intersections and roundabouts, and potentially dangerous situations. The resulting system, combining face expressions and head pose classification, is capable of recognizing dangerous events (such as crashes and near misses) and stressful situations (e.g. intersections and way giving) that occur during the simulated drive.

Alessandro Soro, Andry Rakotonirainy

Conference Proceedings

Investigating the Effect of Long-Term Worksites on Road Users

A large part of German motorways is increasingly in need of modernization. In addition, the dimensioning of traffic routes has to be adapted to consistently growing traffic volumes. Worksites that have to be installed for road preservation and development are planned, following the existing technical regulations. However, the human factor is only considered poorly. Many accidents and traffic disturbances at worksites could be avoided if the driving behavior of road users would be taken into account for the particular situation "worksite". Therefore psychological aspects need to be taken into account for the design of future worksites. In the present study, funded by the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, not only driving behavior, but also heart rate and eye movement of the subjects were measured during test drives in real worksites in order to capture the behavior, workload and attitude that arise for road users when passing a worksite. In addition, longitudinal and lateral distances were detected by means of video cameras and additional measurements were performed at cross-sections. Based on these variables, local traffic parameters were determined. Based on the findings obtained in the study, recommendations for the installation and arrangement of worksites will be compiled which give consideration to the driving behavior. Overall, the aim is to reduce workload for road users in areas of worksites and thereby increase traffic safety.

Christian Busen a, Anna Gerhards b, Max Haberstroh c, Eva-Maria Skottke d, Markus Oeser a

Conference Proceedings

An Application of the Driver Behaviour Questionnaire in a Large Australian Organisational Fleeting Setting: Can it Predict Crashes and Demerit Point Loss?

This study reports on the utilisation of the Manchester Driver Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ) to examine the self-reported driving behaviours of a large sample of Australian fleet drivers (N = 3414). Surveys were completed by employees before they commenced a one day safety workshop intervention. Factor analysis techniques identified a three factor solution similar to previous research, which was comprised of: (a) errors, (b) highway-code violations and (c) aggressive driving violations. Two items traditionally related with highway-code violations were found to be associated with aggressive driving behaviours among the current sample. Multivariate analyses revealed that exposure to the road, errors and self-reported offences predicted crashes at work in the last 12 months, while gender, highway violations and crashes predicted offences incurred while at work. Importantly, those who received more fines at work were at an increased risk of crashing the work vehicle. However, overall, the DBQ demonstrated limited efficacy at predicting these two outcomes. This paper outlines the major findings of the study in regards to identifying and predicting aberrant driving behaviours and also highlights implications regarding the future utilisation of the DBQ within fleet settings.

Darren Wishart, James Freeman, Jeremy Davey, Bevan Rowland, Peter Barraclough

Conference Proceedings

Comparison of Fuel Economy over Different Drive Cycles Each Having the Same Average Speed

The fuel economy of a vehicle is known to be highly dependent on its average speed during driving, with a maximum in fuel economy being present at around 40-50mph. Comparatively little work has been done on the investigation of how fuel economy varies for the same average speed. In this paper we report a theoretical simulation study of nine drive cycles each having the same average speed. The fuel economy for a typical C-segment vehicle varied from 37.3 to 74.4mpg for the nine drive cycles studied. Of the various metrics considered, standard deviation of speed, appears to be the most promising to explain the range of fuel economy. The results have important implications for transport planners, local authorities and national governments who rely on emissions predictions derived from vehicle average speeds. This research highlights the issues associated with this approach.

Andrew McGordon, Stewart Birrell, John Poxon, Paul Jennings

Conference Proceedings

Affective States and Driving Behavior of Novice and Young Drivers

Although general car safety has increased considerably and at the same time accident numbers have decreased remarkably on average in the European Union during the last years, the percentage of novice and young car drivers involved in heavy car accidents is still remaining dramatically high, e.g., in Germany more than twice as high compared to older and more experienced drivers based on their proportion of the driving population. Traffic psychological research shows that maladjusted driving behavior caused by affective states is a main contributor to traffic accidents. Therefore, our current experimental study analyzes this influence of affective states on driving performance with regard to novice and young drivers. In an experimental scenario affective states (positive vs. negative valence) were induced in participants and subjects were then asked to drive predefined routes in a driving simulator. Results indicated that drivers drove significantly faster in a positive affective state compared with drivers in a negative affective state. This effect was pronounced by trend for novice drivers.

Michael Oehl, Rainer Höger

Conference Proceedings

Choosing Routes and Looking Around Carefully: Aspects of Security Management in Behavior of Nonprofessional Motorcyclists

In Brazil, many motorcycle accidents have occurred in displacements home-work/school-meals. This study aims to understand the aspects and origins of accidents involving motorcycles used to transport. Therefore, analyzes 20 cases of nonprofessional motorcyclists that accidents occurred in 2011 in Paranavaí, Paraná State, Brazil. Consisted of semi-structured interviews, focus groups and observations at accidents locals, and analyzes were supported by concepts of Activity Ergonomics and guided by the model of analysis and prevention of work accidents. Motorcycle riding strategies were found and constitute prevention. Strategies of motorcycle conduction were found, that are to prevent, based on diachronic management, like route choice, time planning, knowledge of road and vehicle characteristics; and synchronic management, like constant vigilance, change path and attempt to be seen. Accidents occurred in a factors network, when management aspects cognitive fail. The accident, in this light, should be seen as a result of the interaction of task demands, competition between objectives, organizational factors and cognitive processes. Thus, nonprofessional riders are not crazy looking for the accident. Training activities of motorcyclists should highlight the cognitive, guiding with respect to multiple aspects in motorcycle conduction and showing the importance of synchronic and diachronic aspects, as well as their interactions.

Andrey Rogério Campos Golias, Ildeberto Muniz de Almeida

Conference Proceedings

Testing Changes in the Railway System Through Gaming Simulation: How Different Types of Innovations Affect Operators’ Mental Models

Simulation allows innovation managers to manipulate otherwise unchangeable parameters of a railway system and by doing so enable them search for more radical innovative solutions. To validly simulate a sociotechnical system the simulation needs to do justice to both the technical and social complexities. Gaming simulation provides such an opportunity by incorporating real human elements of the system into the simulation run. However, manipulating system elements might have validity-threatening effects on game player’s mental models as we assume that real life mental models build up over long periods of interacting with an relatively inert system. This paper studied the relation between the concepts of innovation and mental models by showing the interplay between the different dimensions of both innovation and mental models. We measured the impact of the change(s) on mental models by looking qualitatively at proxies such as erroneous decisions, ambiguity and questions about the introduced change and discussion between players, and applied this to three gaming simulations we ran at ProRail, the organization responsible for managing the Dutch network and one gaming simulation at Network Rail, the British railway infrastructure organization. Our paper ends with a crude proposition: testing innovations that focus on procedures are more cumbersome, especially when not accompanied with an innovation that needs an update of declarative knowledge such as infrastructural changes.

Julia C. Loa, Jop van den Hoogena, Sebastiaan A. Meijerb

Conference Proceedings

Driver’s Over-Trust on Advanced Driver Assistance Systems on Passively Protected Railway Crossings

Passively protected railway crossings are a major rail safety issue in Australia. Such crossings cannot be upgraded as such crossings are too numerous and the cost involved is prohibitive. Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) have been shown to improve road safety and are widely used. These systems could be a solution to improve safety of passively protected crossings at a lower cost. Such complementary ADAS could result in driver’s over-trust due to the absence of Humane Machine Interface reflecting the quality of the information or the state of the ADAS (failure status). This paper demonstrates that driver’s exposure to crossing exhibiting fail-safe and non-fail safe properties could result in improperly allocating trust between technologies. We conducted a driving simulator study where participants (N=58) were exposed to three types of level crossing warning system on passive and active crossings. The results show that a significant proportion of participants over-trust the ADAS. Such drivers exhibit the same driving performance with the ADAS as when exposed to infrastructure based active crossing protection. They do not take the necessary safety precautions as they have a faster speed approach, reduced number of gaze toward the rail tracks and fail to stop at the crossing.

Gregoire S. Larue, Andry Rakotonirainy

Conference Proceedings

Effects of Driver Familiarity and Prolonged or Intermittent Right-Side Failure on Level Crossing Safety

This paper investigates the adverse effects of familiarity and human factors issues associated with the reliability of low-cost warning devices at level crossings. The driving simulator study featured a repetitive, low workload, monotonous driving task in which there were no failures of the level crossing (control) or prolonged or intermittent right-side failures (where the device reverts to a safe failure mode). The results of the experiment provided mixed support for the familiarity hypothesis. Four of the 23 participants collided with the train when it first appeared on trial 10 but safety margins increased from the first train to the next presentation of a train (trial 12). Contrary to expectations, the safety margins decreased with repeated right-side failure only for the intermittent condition. The limited head movement data showed that participants in the prolonged failure condition were more likely to turn their head to check for trains in the right-side failure trials than in earlier trials where there was no signal and no train. Few control participants turned their head to check for trains when no signal was presented. This research highlights the need to consider repetitive tasks and workload in experimental design and accident investigation at railway level crossings.

Christian Wullems, Narelle Haworth, Gregoire Larue, Andrew Haines, Matthew Gildersleeve

Conference Proceedings

Train Accidents at Level Crossings in Indonesia – A Preliminary Study

Accidents involving passenger trains in Indonesia are still prevalent. Accidents at level crossings, in particular, have not been declining. In 2013, for example, a major accident at a level crossing occurred that resulted in a number of fatalities and significant financial implications. The impacts of such accidents ranged from property damage to fatalities. This study aimed at understanding the statistics of accidents at railway level crossings in Indonesia. This was achieved by conducting a survey to a couple of government institutions responsible for managing the railway transportation. Furthermore, this study will describe factors related to the accidents by employing Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS). A total of 81 cases out of 134 accidents (between 2006 and 2011) were studied and classified. Results of this study indicated that the majority (97%) of the accidents were caused by “outside factors”, particularly vehicles trying to pass the crossings while the barriers and warnings have been activated. A small percentage of these accidents dealt with operators or technical aspects of the warning/barrier system. Existing road safety regulations specifically indicated, in a large number of cases, that the company operating the railway train might not be responsible for the accidents. Nevertheless, this company (and relevant ministries) could offer a more proactive approach in minimizing the accidents. This includes understanding driver behaviors at level crossings and designing a more effective warning/barrier system.

Hardianto Iridiastadia, Ani Umyatib

Conference Proceedings

An Evaluation of a National Rail Suicide Prevention Programme

This paper describes the rationale for the introduction of a GB national rail suicide prevention programme, which was introduced in 2010 with the aim of reducing the number of suicides on the rail network by 20%. The programme has three key streams of work; prevention activities (designed to reduce the level of suicide), post-vention activities (actions to reduce the impact of suicide) and activities to support partnership working between the key organisations involved in suicide prevention and each of these will be described in detail. This paper will describe the challenges of, and approaches to, the evaluation of such a complex (multiple activities and multiple agencies) and evolving programme. The paper will also present key findings from the evaluation in terms of the impact on the numbers rail suicides, the numbers of interventions, post incident management, improvements in partnership working, and staff attitudes to suicides.

Ann Mills, Toni Flint, Alice Monk

Conference Proceedings

A Visuohaptic Collision Warning Approach for High-Priority Braking Scenarios

Referring to the great importance of an intuitive HMI for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, a driving study was conducted to test innovative warning concepts for high-priority, imminent braking scenarios. Based on previous findings, a peripheral visual illumination stripe warning was expected to show important brake reaction time benefits compared to an auditory alarm, especially in multimodal presentation mode along with a haptic brake pulse warning. Based on previous findings recommending multimodal instead of unimodal warnings to minimize brake reaction times, the optimal timing of multimodal warning components was additionally evaluated. Using the EVITA test system, almost rear-end collision scenarios were provoked to test the different warning concepts. The results indicate a visuohaptic warning approach based on a synchronous presentation of multimodal warning components to communicate imminent braking advices. Further implications for warning concept design will be discussed.

Kathrin Maiera, Jürgen Hellbrücka, Heike Sacherb

Conference Proceedings

DriveLab: Understanding Driving Behavior Made Easy

The ever increasing computerization in vehicles, combined with an increasing pressure for researchers to deliver results, calls for technology that can quickly record and analyze a drivers behavior. With Drivelab, an easy to use system for measuring and analyzing driver behavior, Green Dino, Noldus Information Technology and SmartEye introduce a system that meets those needs. Drivelab is built on Green Dino’s driving simulator, SmartEye’s Smart Eye Pro and Noldus’ The Observer XT. It records common driver performance measure and various (cognitive) workload measures. Using real-time date exchange, data analysis can start immediately after a trial.

Tobias Heffelaar a, Bram van Mil a, Jorrit Kuipers b

Conference Proceedings

Requirements Discovery for Smart Driver Assistive Technology Through Simulation

Smart driver assistive technologies (DAT) have been developed to alleviate accident risk by either reducing driver workload or assessing driver attentiveness. Such systems aim to draw drivers’ attention on critical cues that improve their decision making. In some cases, these systems can have a negative effect to the driver due to the extra information load they incur to the user. Therefore, in addition to specifying the functional requirements there is an urgent need to address the human requirements of such system which include workload and SA. The first step in improving drivers’ SA is to enhance driver’s capability of perceiving and interpreting information from traffic and environmental cues. These constitute Level 1 and 2 of the SA model. However, most DAT systems, facilitate high (i.e. level 3) SA for navigation, but as highlighted earlier, they might decrease drivers’ attention and hence, level 1 SA due to secondary task execution that undermines attention to primary task of operational or tactical driving behaviours (e.g. braking, lane changing, gap acceptance etc.). To that end, three important issues need to be addressed prior to departing in any DAT development. These are: the identification of the driver’s information needs that could enhance SA and the specification of a DAT feedback metaphor (type of feedback and appropriate time for issuing warnings) that will support those needs without impairing driver attention. These constitute the requirements discovery phase. The third step in the process is the evaluation of the effect of a prospective DAT on traffic safety. This however, is a complex process and in most cases it’s only feasible once a prototype of the system is available. Developing a prototype however, is time consuming and expensive. An alternative is thus the development of a simulation model that will mimic the system’s functional and non-functional requirements. This enables testing of candidate system designs and the evaluation of their effect on human requirements prior to implementation. In this study we address the requirements discovery phase through experimental analysis of drivers’ needs that are expressed in terms of workload and SA.

Andreas Gregoriadesa, Christos Floridesa, Smaragda Christodoulou, Maria Pampakab, Harris Michaelc

Conference Proceedings

Crash Trifecta: A Complex Driving Scenario Describing Crash Causation

The aim of this study was to investigate the crash trifecta concept to determine if the convergence of multiple elements--rather than a single, unitary critical reason--has greater value in explaining the complexities of crash genesis. Seven existing naturalistic driving (ND) data sets, four of which were from truck-based ND studies and three from light-vehicle ND studies, were combined to ensure a sufficient number of safety-critical events (SCE) for analyses. Two of the three crash trifecta elements (i.e., “unsafe pre-incident behavior” and “transient driver inattention”) were previously reduced and coded; thus, new data reduction was only required for the “unexpected traffic event” variable. After reduction was completed, SCEs were classified in terms of the joint presence or absence of the three trifecta elements. Results indicated the majority of SCEs can be attributed to the combination of at least two of the crash trifecta components. However, higher severity SCEs (i.e., crashes) were more likely to include all three crash trifecta elements. This illustrates that convergence concepts, such as the crash trifecta concept, may lead to a better understanding of the differences in the formation and origin of a crash compared to the traditional approach of assigning a unitary reason, such as the critical reason.

Naomi J. Dunn, Jeffery S. Hickman, Richard J. Hanowski

Conference Proceedings

Comparing Truck Driving Performance in a Simulator and Instrumented Vehicle

Instrumented vehicles record driver behavior and performance as it occurs in the real world. Driving simulators also capture performance, but in conditions meant to approximate the real world. It is unclear the extent to which simulators elicit performance that is comparable to the real world. This study compared driving performance measures that were collected behind the wheel (BTW) of a truck in the real world and from a truck-driving simulator. Both the road and simulator trucks were instrumented with the same data collection equipment and recorded the same driving performance measures. Comparison of overall scores on the road and range tests by test method (BTW and simulator) found test scores differed as a function of test method for drivers trained in a real truck, and in range tests for drivers trained in the simulator. Non-parametric tests indicated the mean rate of lane departures was significantly different between BTW and simulator road tests (p = 0.01); the lane departure rate per minute was 250% greater in the simulator than on the actual road (0.48 vs. 0.19, respectively). Significant differences in scores and measures between BTW and simulator testing indicates that simulation may not be an appropriate platform for testing on-road performance.

Richard J. Hanowski, Justin F. Morgan, Susan Soccolich, Scott A. Tidwell

Conference Proceedings

The Development of Standard Protocols to Improve the Quality of Driving Simulator Research

Simulators are widely used for investigating driving behavior under a variety of conditions. Simulators can provide a high level of relative validity, but levels of absolute validity are questionable. One drawback of simulator studies is the knowledge of participants that they are in an artificial scenario rather than driving on a real road with real consequences for performance and safety. This influences participants’ feelings of presence. There are many factors that influence presence, or the perceived ‘reality’ of a test environment, and in this paper two are discussed in detail: incentives and instructions. The use of incentives to encourage participation in research studies is inconsistent and there are many associated ethical and practical issues. Research papers rarely include descriptions of the instructions given to participants at the start of a study; however, the content and presentation of instructions can have an effect on participants’ behaviours. A methodology for a proposed study to investigate the influence of these factors in a driving simulator environment is also provided. Finally, some hypotheses for the study, based on the theory in this area, are presented for future testing.

Catherine Harvey, Gary Burnett

Conference Proceedings

A Presence Questionnaire for Understanding the Driving Simulator Experience

Presence is seen to be important in the Virtual Reality (VR) domain, as there is often a close link between an individual’s experience of a virtual environment and their subsequent performance/behaviour. Unfortunately, the generic presence questionnaires available in the VR literature have been developed considering tasks not necessarily relevant to the driving situation - for instance, relating to the participant’s ability to move objects, use touch, smell items, etc. This paper describes the evolution of a driving simulator experience questionnaire, designed specifically to enable researchers and practitioners to understand how study participants perceive the driving simulation environment in relation to real-world equivalent situations. The final questionnaire has been informed by 20 interviews and focus sessions, 5 expert reviews, and simulator studies involving 225 people across different fidelity simulators and research institutions. Specifically, 41 items are currently included, believed to be of importance for natural driving. Examples of questions relate to strategic - “I felt as if I had been on a journey”, tactical -“I was compelled to obey the displayed road signs…”, and control – “I had a strong sense of physically controlling the vehicle” elements of the driving task. Items are also included relating to social aspects of driving, e.g. “I was aware that other people were driving cars around me”. In next steps, we intend to evaluate the questionnaire by comparing ratings made by individuals with their subsequent driving behaviour/performance in a simulator.

Gary Burnett, Richard Donkor, Sarah Sharples

Conference Proceedings

An Evaluation of the Use of Odds Ratios to Estimate the Association between Mobile Phone Use and Safety Critical Driving Events

This paper investigates the odds ratios for mobile phone use when driving for a sample of vehicles from fleets in the USA, UK, and New Zealand, employing a similar protocol to that used by Hickman, Hanowski & Bocanegra (2010). The event data was collected from vehicles of various types, ranging from commercial to private vehicles. Vehicles used the SmartDrive in-vehicle camera and telematics systems to record video, audio, location and speed information in response to kinematic triggers. Data was reviewed at SmartDrive by trained observers and coded for the safety criticality of the event (safety critical event (SCE) vs. baseline epoch (BE)) and the associated factors observed over the time-course of the event. The SmartDrive dataset comprised a total of 103,264 epochs recorded from the start of April 2012 until mid-October 2013 and was evaluated by SmartDrive expert reviewers. Of this total number of epochs, 14,097 were classified as SCEs and 89,167 as BEs. SmartDrive provided data on the incidence of events and associated factors to TRL for further analysis, particularly for tasks relating to mobile phone use. Similar to the findings of Hickman, Hanowski & Bocanegra (2010), handsfree mobile phone use was associated with a significant odds ratio of less than one for the occurrence of a SCE. In contrast to the findings of Hickman et al. (2010), results from this investigation revealed that both handheld mobile phone use and manual interaction with the mobile phone (texting/dialling) were also associated with a significant odds ratio of less than one. These results are used to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the use of naturalistic driving data, the method of classification employed by trained observers, and the use of odds ratios as an approach for investigating the effects of engagement in secondary tasks while driving has on driver behaviour and driving performance.

Nick Reed a, Charlene Hallett b, Stephanie Cynk a, David Jenkins a

Conference Proceedings

Forecasting of Evolution System the Driver – A Vehicle – Transport Network – Environment

The purpose of the article is method perfecting of the evolutionary probabilistic modeling that takes into account changes in the environment and the impact on all members of «the driver – a vehicle – transport network – environment». This allows to predict the evolution of any technical system with a variable environment. In work was established that the periods duration at locked state within each evolution stage of the system decreases. The disconnected state periods duration increases according to geometric progression. Also, the environment impact does not release system was determined. The environmental factors was analyzed. The gross domestic product was set like the key factor. As a result, any changes the transition environment probability in a given factual situation. It is possible to get a new model for determining the predictive values. Completed in 2006 forecast the evolution of «the driver – a vehicle – transport network – environment» (for example, in Kharkiv tram) had a valid value. As confirmed prediction verification data of 2007-2012 years. Transition probability model from the initial state to the final is refined. The proposed method allowed to apply evolutionary probabilistic modeling including a changing environment. This allows obtaining more reliable predictions of the evolution of any technical system.

Viktor Dolia, Igor Ivanov, Iaroslav Sanko, Denis Pankratov, Yevhen Kush

Conference Proceedings