Would you cross the road? Modelling interactions between the factors influencing pedestrians' decisions when exposed to automated vehicles.

Introduction: The advancement of Automated vehicles (AVs) is an ongoing process. Novel concepts are being tested and validated frequently to improve AVs' functionality. An expected benefit of AVs is the improvement of vulnerable road users' safety. While interacting with human-driven vehicles, pedestrians seek out visual cues provided by the driver such as eye contact or hand gestures to make decisions. These communication means may be absent in AVs. In these situations, pedestrians may misinterpret the AVs' intention, thus causing confusion. Therefore, it is necessary to first analyze the factors considered by pedestrians to understand how they make decisions while interacting with an AV. More insight can be obtained from a study conducted to see the interaction between factors. Research objective: This research focuses on four factors, namely, the urgency of the task, weather conditions, social contagion, and road markings. This research aims to determine which factors have more weight made by the pedestrian while crossing a road. Methodology: The analysis will be conducted based on Anderson's experimental protocol, supported by the information integration theory. Outcomes: The results from this study are expected to quantify which factors affect the decision-making process and the importance of each factor from a pedestrians' perspective.