ADFC & KIT Cape Reviso: How to Avoid Conflicts in Traffic

The General German Bicycle Club (ADFC) and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology have launched a pilot project to investigate how traffic conflicts can be avoided. The focus is also on protecting cyclists and pedestrians. The traffic space in cities must be divided among all road users and is sometimes used jointly, the organizers state. The choice of transportation people make depends, among many other factors, on whether the use of the means of transport is perceived as pleasant or unpleasant. Conflicts along the way and subjectively perceived stress have a significant impact on this.

"To ensure that as many people as possible cycle or walk, it is important to reduce these conflicts," the organizers further explain.

This is where the Cape Reviso project comes in. The project aims to capture the subjective sense of security of cyclists and pedestrians with objective data. Cape Reviso stands for Cyclist and Pedestrians on Real and Virtual Shared roads. The scientists are working with and on various methods and linking them.

They aim to analyze and defuse conflicts between bicycle and pedestrian traffic, but also conflicts that both have with other road users. Programs and digital tools that collect data are used, but driving simulations or scenarios are also played out virtually and in real life. The developed methods and modules can be tried and applied by municipalities, citizens, and initiatives after the project ends.

Planning early to eliminate conflicts

The goal is to make better decisions in the future regarding the planning of bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure based on the knowledge gained. One project module is the measurement of the overtaking distance between car traffic and cyclists. To this end, cyclists are equipped with an OpenBikeSensor that measures the overtaking distance. It records how closely cyclists are overtaken by cars and where the required safety distance is undercut.

The measurements provide information about where it is particularly dangerous for cyclists. Such measurements are also occasionally conducted with pedestrians carrying a backpack with a distance sensor. These distance measurements are sometimes combined with stress measurements. Sensors record the stress levels of cyclists when overtaken by car traffic. Surveys complement the data collected with the stress sensors and GPS trackers.