Simulations of the relationship between a personal mobility vehicle and pedestrians

Personal mobility vehicles (PMVs) as new individual transportation vehicles have been proposed around the world. It is important to ensure the safe operation of a PMV, especially when a PMV travels in pedestrian flows. In this work, the affinity felt by pedestrians toward a compact PMV, the use of which can be considered an extension of walking, is investigated in simulations. The simulation model is built by introducing the idea of personal space. Personal space is the space in which invasion by others induces a psychological strain. To evaluate the affinity between the PMV and surrounding pedestrians, the invasion ratio as an original index is proposed. Comparing with previous experimental results that determined pedestrian discomfort and fear levels through questionnaires, it is shown that the average invasion ratio, the maximum invasion ratio and the crossing time are elements that can be used to express affinity.