Reliability of Vehicle-to-Micromobility Safety Communication

Abstract

This paper presents field tests of vehicle-to-micromobility communication, a type of connected vehicle communication. Micromobility includes any vehicle that is lightweight and operates at low speeds, such as bicycles, electric scooters, and electric skateboards. In recent years, micromobility has emerged as a popular form of transportation in large part due to the sudden surge of bicycle-share and scooter-share. The anticipated safety benefits from connected vehicle communication can be expected for micromobility users as well. At this point, it is not clear whether individuals will decide to invest in such technology for their own personal bicycles and scooters; however, it is likely that shared mobility companies that deploy thousands of bicycles and scooters will be incentivized to invest in such technology due to market competition. The field tests in this study focused on two collision scenarios that are particularly problematic for micromobility users: right hook collision and Right-Angle Collision. Furthermore, the tests were conducted under different environmental conditions to simulate potential degradation in communication signal due to natural causes or caused by intentional interference from a malicious source. The results suggest that vehicle-to-micromobility communication can improve safety by alerting the driver of a motor vehicle about an imminent collision with sufficient reaction time for safe stopping distance. Moreover, the results demonstrate that a modification to the communication algorithm can successfully overcome signal degradation due to natural causes or from malicious intent.