KIT ESSEM: Researching How Cyclists Feel Safe

The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology has launched the joint project ESSEM against the backdrop of the increasing volume of bicycle traffic. The project aims to analyze how and where cyclists feel safest in traffic.

"The bicycle plays an increasingly important role in traffic planning. Many municipalities are developing concepts to enhance their bike-friendliness. These include routes where cyclists feel safe," outlines the institute's approach.

Researchers now intend to study more closely when and where cyclists feel stressed in urban traffic. According to the Federal Ministry of Transport, 80 percent of Germans use bicycles, whether pedal-assisted or not, in daily life and leisure, and 55 percent even consider it an indispensable mode of transport.

“How comfortable or uncomfortable they feel on the road depends on many factors, such as the road surface, the proximity of passing cars, the clarity of intersections, and the waiting time at traffic lights,” explains Peter Zeile, head of the Urban Emotions research initiative at the Department of Urban District Planning at the Institute for Urban and Landscape Design at KIT.

Recommendations for data-supported bicycle traffic planning

Experts in urban planning, architecture, and sociology from Urban Emotions are part of the ESSEM research consortium – Emotion Sensing for (E-)Bicycle Safety and Mobility Comfort. This consortium examines all these factors and influences by combining environment and personal data to evaluate existing bicycle infrastructures. One goal of the three-year collaborative project, which began in January 2022 with partners from academia, industry, and cities, is to develop methodological and practical recommendations for data-supported bicycle traffic planning, describes KIT.

Emotion-Sensing: You can feel it

Among other things, a practical and easy-to-use tool for evaluating bicycle infrastructures with the support of emotion-sensing data is to be developed. Technical sensors will be used to measure emotional perception. The researchers at KIT are investigating where the main traffic flows of bicycle traffic lead in the participating cities of Osnabrück and Ludwigsburg. They are also collecting 350 data sets from participants whose skin conductivity and body temperature – as indicators of stress – are measured with body-worn sensors during their bike rides through the two model cities.

Geodata and action cameras measure stress

In combination with geodata and images from action cameras, stress-inducing road and traffic situations can be identified from the emotion measurements.

“The particularly interesting question is whether locations can be identified that have not statistically been known as accident-prone but are perceived as risky,” says Zeile.

The scientists from Urban Emotions aim to further refine the basic measurement algorithms already used in several international measurement campaigns within the ESSEM project. The project is more than just a consolidation of individual projects, Zeile believes. He is convinced that the research partners will succeed in more precisely determining the influences on cycling safety and mobility comfort.

Funding from the BMDV with 1.65 million euros

The Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV) is funding ESSEM with a total of around 1.65 million euros, of which Urban Emotions receives 329,000 euros. The project is coordinated by the Institute for Human Factors and Technology Management IAT at the University of Stuttgart, which cooperates with the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO. Project partners include KIT, Paris-Lodron University Salzburg, Porsche Digital GmbH in Ludwigsburg, Bike Citizens Mobile Solutions GmbH in Berlin, User Interface Design GmbH in Ludwigsburg, and the General German Bicycle Club, along with the city of Ludwigsburg as an associated partner.