The impact of automated vehicles on pedestrian conformity behavioural decisions

Social information is widely used in pedestrian crossing, particularly in pedestrians’ conformity behaviour. With the increasing prevalence of automated vehicles, pedestrians adjust their behaviour to align with this change. This study investigates how automated vehicles (AVs) influence pedestrian crossing behaviour, focusing on social information and conformity in different crowd scenarios. Experiments compared pedestrian responses to AVs and manual vehicles across three crossing scenarios: solo-crossing (no pedestrians present), crowd-crossing (three pedestrians cross before the vehicle stops, one waits), and crowd-waiting (one pedestrian crosses before the vehicle stops, three wait). Volunteers provided objective response times and subjective assessments (trust, perceived safety, willingness to cross, and follow). Results showed crowd-crossing reduced response time, while crowd-waiting increased it. The interaction between vehicle and crowd types showed AVs led to lower willingness to cross in all conditions, with the lowest willingness observed in the crowd-waiting condition. Manual vehicles elicited higher trust and perceived safety than AVs. Crowd-crossing enhanced trust and safety, whereas crowd-waiting diminished them. Findings highlight that pedestrian group behaviour significantly influences interactions with AVs, affecting attitudes and perceived risks. These insights underscore the need for autonomous driving systems to consider group dynamics and effectively communicate vehicle intent.