Heather Kaths

• Professor
• Professor at University of Wuppertal

As the number of bicyclists in urban areas continues to increase, the need to realistically model the movement and interactions of bicyclists is rapidly gaining importance in the accurate modeling of mixed urban traffic. In response to this need, several approaches to modeling bicyclists' movements and interactions have been developed. This study s...

Microscopic traffic simulation tools, which are often used to evaluate road infrastructure design, signal control, intelligent transportation systems (ITS) and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), are limited in their capacity to realistically simulate bicycle traffic. Due to their small size and high manoeuvrability, bicyclists are one of th...

Bicyclists are extremely flexible road users who employ various tactical behaviours to optimise comfort, directness and time efficiency while crossing a signalised intersection. Tactical choices faced by bicyclists at signalised intersections include whether to use the bicycle lane, roadway or sidewalk, to stop at or violate a red traffic signal, t...

Bicycling behavior is dynamic and shaped by individual preferences, physical effort, and external influences. Understanding utilitarian bicycling dynamics helps design safe, efficient, and appealing bicycling infrastructure. The study examines free-riding bicycling behavior — unaffected by interactions with other road users — in different infrastru...

Cycling behavior is shaped by infrastructure design, weather conditions, other road users, and individual preferences. The human-powered motion in cycling indicates that physical capabilities and perceptions of effort play a key role in how bicyclists ride. In this study, we examine the behavior of bicyclists not influenced by other road users or t...

Der elektrische Radverkehr erfährt ein rasantes Wachstum. Doch trotz der Unterschiede zum konventionellen Radverkehr werden die verschiedenen Fahrradtypen in der Modellierungspraxis gemeinhin nicht differenziert betrachtet, mit negativen Implikationen für die Genauigkeit, Prognosefähigkeit und Anwendungsbereiche solcher Modelle. Dieser Beitrag scha...

The pathways used by cyclists, pedestrians, and users of micromobility to cross intersections do not always align with those planned by traffic engineers. Observing actual usage patterns could lead to a better understanding of the tactical behavior of users of active and micromobility, allowing planners and engineers to create urban environments sp...

Cyclists and other types of road users who do not adhere to lane discipline pose a challenge in microscopic traffic simulation. In most software, the models are adapted to increase the lateral flexibility of road users, either through introducing sub-lanes ( SUMO ) or introducing a continuous lateral axis ( PTV Vissim ). These solutions enable the...

Microscopic traffic simulation tools provide ever-increasing value in the design and implementation of motor vehicle transport systems. Research and development of automated and intelligent technologies have highlighted the usefulness of simulation tools and development efforts have accelerated in recent years. However, the majority of traffic simu...

Cyclists pose an interesting challenge in the microscopic modeling and simulation of urban traffic. Like motorists, cyclists can move on roadways, tend to have one main axis of movement (longitudinal), and cannot change their velocity instantaneously. However, like pedestrians, cyclists are less bound by lane discipline and are often less rule-orie...

E-bike sales have been growing strongly across the globe in recent years. Despite the differences between e-bikes and conventional bicycles, bicycle traffic is typically considered a uniform mode in macroscopic transport modeling. This is problematic because such models do not allow for dedicated e-bike analysis and could therefore have adverse imp...

This chapter provides an overview of the literature about selected interactions between cyclists, pedestrians, motorists, heavy-duty vehicles, busses, pedestrians in urban areas. Hydén's Safety Pyramid is used as a framework for organizing interactions as frequent, inconsequential encounters, potential, slight and serious conflicts or crashes with...

The popularity of utilitarian bicycling is increasing in many urban areas. As a result, growing volumes of bicycle traffic on road networks have significant impacts on traffic flow and the capacity of vehicular traffic, particularly at intersections. The goal of this paper is to quantify the impact of large volumes of bicycle traffic on the capacit...

Many municipalities are introducing new bicycling facilities and improving existing infrastructure to meet the needs of an increasing number of bicyclists. In Germany, for example, new design guidelines for bicycle highways require a minimum width of three meters, which is assumed sufficient for a bicyclist to pass two bicyclists riding beside one...

In Zukunft ist mit einem weiter steigenden Anteil von Radfahrern am Verkehrsaufkommen zu rechnen. Der nationale Radverkehrsplan 2020 (NRVP) prognostiziert eine mögliche Steigerung des Radverkehrs von 11 % im Jahr 2013 auf 16 % im Jahr 2020 in Bezug auf die Anzahl der Wege im städtischen Umfeld. Im Sinne einer nachhaltigen und gesundheitsfördernden...

In RASCH werden die Potentiale von Radschnellwegen hinsichtlich der Steigerung der Attraktivität, Sicherheit und Effizienz des Radverkehrs untersucht. Es werden zwei Verkehrssteuerungsmaßnahmen zum Einsatz an Knotenpunkten von Radschnellwegen mithilfe eines Simulationslabors erprobt und bewertet. Die Eigenschaften der Infrastruktur spielen dabei ei...

Detailed specifications of urban traffic from different perspectives and scales are crucial for understanding and predicting traffic situations from the view of an autonomous vehicle (AV). We suggest a data-driven specification scheme for maneuvers at different design elements of the built infrastructure and focus on urban roundabouts in Germany. B...

Der Beitrag beschreibt Untersuchungen des Verkehrsablaufs und Erweiterungen für das Berechnungsverfahren zur Bemessung nach dem HBS 2015 für signalisierte Knotenpunkte mit hohem Radverkehrsaufkommen. Zur Analyse des Verkehrsablaufs wurden empirische Untersuchungen des Fahrverhaltens von Radfahrern und Kfz an ausgewählten Knotenpunkten durchgeführt....

Car-following models are used in microscopic simulation tools to calculate the longitudinal acceleration of a vehicle based on the speed and position of a leading vehicle in the same lane. Bicycle traffic is usually included in microscopic traffic simulations by adjusting and calibrating behavior models developed for motor vehicle traffic. However,...

In the present research, a bicycle simulator is used to study the behavior of bicyclists and to collect data that can be used for developing a Bidirectional Long Short-Term Network (B-LSTM) model that predicts a bicyclist’s intended maneuver type class (left turn, right turn, straight) at an intersection approach. First the bicyclists’ dynamic beha...

Urban roads are a dynamic environment in which formal and informal communication are crucial. In order for autonomous vehicles to operate effectively in such an environment, they must be able to deal with this complexity. In particular, an understanding of the communication patterns of bicyclists is crucial because of their vulnerability and lack o...

The ongoing increase of bicycle traffic in urban areas forces transport authorities to reconsider the space allocation for different transport modes. Transport policies favor the introduction of high-quality bicycle infrastructure along urban corridors to improve the traffic quality and safety for bicyclists but more importantly to increase the att...

A Python library for visualizing a Sumo network and trajectories with matplotlib or as an OBJ file.

Research projects related to the TUM-VT bicycle simulator: • RASCH-Bicycle Highways: Designing Efficient and Secure Infrastructure • RadOnTime-Effects of Countdown Timers on Bicycle Traffic • @CITY-Automated Vehicles and Intelligent Traffic in the City • @CITY-AF-Automated Driving Functions

Urban environments often involve the interaction of numerous vulnerable road users both with each other and with motorized road users. Many factors influence the ability of pedestrians and cyclists to efficiently move through such environments, and in order to study these, we use a bicycle simulator to conduct studies with test subjects, evaluating...

Der Beitrag beschreibt Untersuchungen des Verkehrsablaufs und Erweiterungen für das Berechnungsverfahren zur Bemessung nach dem Handbuch für die Bemessung von Straßenverkehrsanlagen (HBS 2015) für signalisierte Knotenpunkte mit hohem Radverkehrsaufkommen. Zur Analyse des Verkehrsablaufs wurden empirische Untersuchungen des Fahrverhaltens von Radfah...

Operational behavior models are used in traffic simulations to represent the subconscious, short-term decisions made by road users to respond to other road users, the infrastructure and traffic control measures. Calibration and validation of these models can be achieved using observed trajectory data from real road users. For lane bound traffic, it...

Urban environments are more or less characterized by active travel modes, including the bicycle usage. Present transport infrastructure for bicyclists can often not serve the high traffic volumes, especially in rush hours. Therefore, introducing novel and specific traffic control strategies for bicyclists might serve as supportive element for impro...

Bicycle traffic is becoming an increasingly important part of urban traffic. Thus, the simulation and accurate representation of bicycle traffic in microscopic traffic simulation software is gaining importance. As bicycle traffic increases, dedicated bicycle infrastructure is designed to accommodate bicycle traffic. Especially at intersections, the...

Daily mobility has manifold appearances, especially in urban environments. Numerous modes of transport, different types of traffic participants and differing travel demands and supplies occur within often restricted urban infrastructures. One key for understanding these complex phenomena is the representation of not only space and time, but also of...

The bicycle traffic research group at the Chair of Traffic Engineering and Control at the Technical University of Munich use a physical bike simulator for various applications in different projects. Based on the connection of a steering and speed sensor, we can transfer movements of test subjects into different VR environments for evaluating variou...

Sitraffic SiBike is a mobile phone application developed by Siemens that prioritizes bicyclists at signalised intersections. Sitraffic SiBike has the potential to increase traffic efficiency and traffic safety for bicyclists. The prioritization reduces the number of stops of equipped bicyclists at signalised intersections. Additionally, travel spee...

Gerade zu Beginn werden Automatisierte Fahrzeuge die Straßeninfrastruktur mit menschlichen Verkehrsteilnehmer teilen. Aus diesem Grund ist es essentiell, dass die Automatisierten Fahrzeuge das Verhalten der anderen Verkehrsteilnehmer erfassen und die Intentionen prädizieren können. Auch die herkömmlichen Fahrer müssen mit dem Verhalten der automati...

Bicycle traffic may have a significant influence on motorized traffic at signalized intersections. For instance, motorized vehicles carrying out right-turning maneuvers have to wait for bicyclists riding straight across the intersection. For this reason, infrastructure design (e.g. bicycle paths and lanes and queuing areas) and signalization of bic...

Bicyclists are amongst the most flexible road users and can tactically choose their pathway across an intersection using available bicycle lanes, roadways and sidewalks, riding either with or against the direction of travel. This flexible pathfinding behaviour is difficult to recreate in current microscopic traffic simulation tools due to limitatio...

Bicyclists are amongst the most flexible road users and can tactically choose their pathway across an intersection using available bicycle lanes, roadways and sidewalks, riding either with or against the direction of travel. This flexibility makes it difficult to accurately include the pathfinding behaviour of bicyclists in microscopic traffic simu...

In this paper models are developed, calibrated and evaluated to describe the acceleration and deceleration processes of bicyclists in three states; while accelerating from a stop, decelerating to a stop and while fluctuating around the desired traveling speed. Such models are necessary to reliably simulate the speed profiles of bicyclists in micros...

To improve livability in cities and to meet stringent regulations set by the European Union, municipalities are striving to reduce the amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) and particular matter (PM) emissions (39. Bundesimmissionsschutzverordnung (BImSchV)). Adaptive Network Signal Control (ANSC) strategies have been developed with the main goal of impro...

With the purpose of developing valid models of microscopic bicycle behavior, a large quantity of video data is collected at three busy urban intersections in Munich, Germany. Due to the volume of data, the manual processing of this data is infeasible and an automated or semi-automated analysis method must be implemented. An open source software, "T...

A recent survey by the City of Calgary, Canada, found that more than 75% of cyclists commuting to downtown Calgary are male. The intent of this research is to determine whether this is also true for cyclists commuting to a university campus located in the second most popular employment area of the city, what obstacles are preventing women from bicy...