In praise of the predictable

Bicyclists’ trust grows for self-driving vehicles, declines for human drivers, survey finds

Citing the predictability of selfdriving vehicles, bicyclists say they are increasingly more comfortable around them than they are around human drivers, according to a survey released Monday by Bike Pittsburgh.

The survey, a followup to one in 2017 by the bicycle advocacy group, shows that bicyclists feel increasingly safe around self-driving vehicles. The results showed 61.4 percent of the 798 bicyclists who responded said they felt safe or very safe on the road with self-driving vehicles, compared to just under 60 percent two years ago, when fewer companies were testing their vehicles on Pittsburgh streets.

In 2017, Uber was operating almost all the self-driving vehicles here, but in the past two years, Uber has been joined by Argo AI and Aurora Innovation.

Problems that bicyclists cited two years ago, such as self-driving vehicles driving closer than the mandatory 4 feet away from them, seem to have been reduced, said Eric Boerer, advocacy director for Bike Pittsburgh.

Human drivers didn’t fare as well in the survey: 17.2 percent of bicyclists said they felt safe or very safe around human drivers this year, compared to about 30 percent two years ago.

Mr. Boerer said bicyclists seem to like the predictability of selfdriving vehicles because they always stay at the speed limit and use turn signals.

“Autonomous vehicles don’t drink and drive, don’t stare at their phones, they don’t do aggressive driving,” Mr. Boerer said. “I think that’s the general sentiment.”

Here’s a typical comment from the survey:

“My opinion regarding the safety of AVs on the streets tends to sway back [and] forth. In one regard, I’m concerned that an AV might not accurately identify cyclists/ peds, avoid bike lanes, etc. On the other hand, I know that human drivers are far more distracted and don’t pay attention at all.”

The group said results also identified particular areas where there are problems and urged city officials to adopt a series of regulatory standards.

For example, bicyclists tend to use Railroad Street, between 11th and 31st streets, in the Strip District rather than much busier Smallman Street or Penn Avenue. But bicyclists have difficulty crossing railroad tracks, they say, because self-driving vehicles from Uber and Argo AI, which are stored nearby, often don’t allow them enough room to maneuver their bikes at sharp angles.

As far as regulations, Mr. Boerer said the city should require all self-driving vehicles to travel no faster than 25 mph and have two staff members in the vehicle, one behind the wheel and another for any emergency that might arise. Many operate that way now, but it is not required.

In addition, the group wants the city to establish a mechanism for self-driving operators to report close calls with bicyclists even if no one is injured so everyone knows how often that occurs.

“There’s still no place for people to report these closecall incidents,” Mr. Boerer said. “We’re looking for the city and the companies to figure out how to do that.”

Survey results are available at bikepgh.org/av.