Opinions of active transportation users on policies to ensure their perceived safety in the era of autonomous vehicles

Active transportation users, including pedestrians and bicyclists, have expressed significant safety concerns over the co-existence of autonomous vehicles (AVs) on the road in the future. However, insufficient emphasis has been paid to exploring the demands of safety-related public policies with empirical evidence, and even much of the previous literature has not fully incorporated the viewpoints of the active transportation users. Thus, this study explored the opinions of active transportation users on five safety-related policies in the era of AVs: (1) a speed limit restriction (policy 1), (2) human-occupied AVs at all times (policy 2), (3) active engagement of human drivers in school zones (policy 3), (4) trip-related data sharing (policy 4), and (5) AV technology-related data sharing (policy 5). This study developed five multinomial logit models using the 2019 BikePGH survey data collected in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and revealed the following main findings. First, active transportation users who reported feeling extremely safe when sharing the road with AVs were significantly more likely to believe that none of the five policies were necessary. However, those who believed AVs would harm traffic injuries and fatalities favored policies 2 and 3. Also, those negatively affected by the fatal crash in Arizona expressed the need for policies 1 and 2. Additionally, those who have shared the road with AVs believed that policies 1, 2, and 3 were crucial. This research will benefit AV stakeholders, particularly transportation officials and planners, as it will offer guidelines to ensure the perceived safety of vulnerable road users and make roads safer for them in the AV era.