Examining socioeconomic and physiological factors affecting preferences for cycling infrastructure using virtual reality experimentation

摘要: Understanding cyclist behaviors and preferences is critical to improve safety and increase mode share. However, real-world cycling data is scarce and on-road testing presents safety concerns. This study presents a novel way of studying cyclists’ perceptions of bicycle infrastructure design alternatives using immersive virtual environments modeled after a real-world corridor, and a previously validated bike simulator at the University of Virginia, U.S. Three infrastructure scenarios were tested: sharing lanes with motor vehicles marked with sharrows (with no bike lane), a separated bike lane, and a protected bike lane with flexible delineators. Surveys elicited data on participants’ preferences and perceptions of safety, as well as demographic and socioeconomic data. Smartwatches collected heart rate (HR) data. A multinomial logit model examined the relationship between sociodemographic and physiological …