The assessment of hazard awareness skills among light rail drivers

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

2019

Subject Area

place - asia, mode - tram/light rail, ridership - drivers, ridership - perceptions

Keywords

Light rail drivers, Hazard awareness, Light rail driving experience, Eye movements

Abstract

Light rail (LR) is a popular means of public transportation worldwide, in use in more than 380 cities worldwide. LR drivers must have good hazard awareness: the ability to understand the complexity of the traffic environment and anticipate road events. Yet, no study has examined LR drivers' ability to anticipate hazards, and this is the purpose of this study. The experimental group included 28 certified LR drivers from the LR in Jerusalem. The control group included 26 licensed drivers, with no experience in LR driving. Participants observed 18 short video clips of typical LR driving that were filmed from the LR driver's field of view and had to press a response button each time they identified a hazard. Participants' eye movements and button presses were recorded throughout the experiment. In general, LR drivers were better at identifying hazards compared to the control group. Novice LR drivers with less than 1 year of LR driving experience or under training were more likely to respond to hidden hazards and responded much sooner compared to both the experienced LR drivers and Control drivers. The implications are discussed.

Rights

Permission to publish the abstract has been given by Elsevier, copyright remains with them.

Comments

Transportation Research Part F Home Page:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/13698478

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