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In this paper, we present the new features implemented on the bicycle simulator developed by the Perceptions, Interactions, Behaviors and Simulations Lab for road and street users (PICS-L) at Gustave Eiffel University. The added features were deemed necessary to study road-bicycle interactions. We equipped the simulator platform with: three actuators to render the road profile vibrations, an asphalt specimen attached to the rear tire to render the road adhesion, and a new virtual reality environment to render a part of the city of Vanves in France. Simultaneously, we developed a mathematical model with 6 degrees of freedom including the three rotational angles (Yaw, Pitch and Roll) and their influence on vertical, lateral and longitudinal modeling. In order to validate the simulator and the developed model physically and subjectively, we conducted an experiment involving 36 participants who rode the simulator for around 600 meters with full control on the handlebar, pedals and brakes. The improved simulator/mathematical model will be employed to further study bicycle dynamics, cyclist behavior and the interaction with the infrastructure and other road users.

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In this paper, we present the instrumentation of a city bicycle with different sensors and devic-es in order to measure cyclists’ inputs (i.e., pedaling and steering) and the dynamical and kinematic properties of the bicycle. The instrumentation includes two tri-axial accelerometers, an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), GPS, a potentiometer, a laser scanner, a pedaling power meter, and speed and cadence sensors, in addition to a mobile eye tracker worn by the cyclists. After the instrumentation and adjustment of the sensors, a study was conducted in the city of Stockholm using the instrumented bicycle with the aim to evaluate cycling safety and comfort on snowy surface conditions. The outputs of this experiment will be employed further to study the interaction of cyclists with road infrastructure and other road users and their impact on cyclists’ behavior and cycling safety.

Understanding how vulnerable road users (cyclists and pedestrians) behave enables the construction of better roadways with adapted geometric and surface design which leads to improve cycling safety and comfort. This study examines the behavior of cyclists using an instrumented city bicycle that allows collecting exact data about bicycle dynamics, trajectory, and speed, as well as essential information to study the behavior of the cyclists, their reaction to the different features of the road surface and geometric design, and their interaction with other road users such as pedestrians, vehicles and other cyclists. 22 cyclists participated in an experiment following a predetermined route in Stockholm, Sweden. The route consisted of a circuit with different types of cycling facilities in order to study the different interactions (cyclistcar and cyclist-pedestrian), the circuit was divided into 3 zones: the first is mixed traffic, the second is a separate cycling lane and the third is shared pedestrian-cycling path. The results show significant data to evaluate cycling safety and comfort in snowy weather conditions and the perception-reaction behavior of cyclists; accordingly, the infrastructure-related risks were evaluated from subjective and objective points of view. In this paper, we propose a new concept to evaluate cycling behavior. This concept allows us to evaluate cyclists' behavior through the calculation of Behavioral Risk Indicator (BRI) based on different risk factors owing to weather, road and traffic conditions, interaction with other road users and reaction to infrastructure drawbacks. The applications of the proposed concept allow us to evaluate the risks caused by multiple traffic factors and infrastructural drawbacks and study cyclist-bicycle-road interactions and their influences on cycling safety. In addition, the concept provides a new foundation for establishing cycling safety measures that could be applied to improve the infrastructure and reduce traffic accidents in order to attract more people to ride bicycles.