Development of Human Factors toolkit to inform behavioural and cognitive research in the railway domain

Abstract

The application of automated systems in rail operations should account for its impact on train (traffic) operators. The introduction of automation is expected to transform the duties and responsibilities of operators, or more generally, the job description itself. The role of behaviour and cognition research is essential in supporting the shift toward more advanced interactive technologies, helping to maximize their benefits while mitigating potential human factors issues in its adoption. We synthesised information from academic literature on human factors research in railways and developed a toolkit that identifies a set of human factors constructs that were commonly measured by practitioners in the railway domain, particularly in human-in-the-loop (HITL) simulations. We then conducted 3 rounds of feedback consisting of a workshop and 2 survey rounds with a total of 23 responses from human factors experts We identified 8 main constructs that are commonly measured in behavioural rail simulation studies: task performance, workload, communication, situation awareness, attention (including vigilance and attention allocation), user experience and usability, fatigue/sleepiness, and trust in automation. Additionally, we also compiled 63 objective and subjective methods for measuring the constructs, We provide descriptions and examples of how each method was utilised in research in the toolkit.

Keywords: Research Methods, Cognitive Systems, Performance Measures, Psychological Measurement, Human-in-the-loop Simulation, Experimental Research, Train (traffic) Operator

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1007869