A Virtual Reality Framework for Analyzing Pedestrian Crossing Behavior and Decision-Making Factors

Term Start:

July 1, 2025

Term End:

May 31, 2026

Budget:

$75,000

Keywords:

Pedestrian Risk-Taking, Social Influence Dynamics, Virtual Reality Behavior Modeling

Thrust Area(s):

Data Modeling and Analytic Tools, Understanding User Needs

University Lead:

The University of Texas at Austin

Researcher(s):

Chandra Bhat

Pedestrian safety remains a critical concern, with a significant rise in pedestrian fatalities in recent years. In 2022 alone, 7,522 pedestrians died in crashes, marking a troubling 57% rise from 2013 (Smart Growth America, 2024). However, traditional safety research focusing on crash outcomes and infrastructure factors has failed to capture the nuanced behavioral aspects that influence pedestrian risk-taking, such as hesitation, jaywalking, and split-second decisions that do not necessarily result in crashes but still pose significant risks.

Virtual Reality (VR) has emerged as a valuable tool for studying pedestrian behavior in controlled environments, allowing researchers to safely replicate high-risk scenarios. Recent VR studies have begun exploring social influence on pedestrian decision-making, showing how social conformity and inter-individual interactions affect crossing behaviors. Despite these advances, critical research gaps remain. Most studies examine uncontrolled mid-block crossings rather than complex signalized intersections where pedestrian walk light violations occur. There is also insufficient integration of sociodemographic variables with environmental and social factors to explain safety differences across communities and population groups. In addition, research on social influence typically employs simplified scenarios without exploring psychological mechanisms of observational learning and risk tolerance in realistic urban environments. These limitations limit our understanding of why certain populations (e.g., low income groups) face higher crash risks and how social dynamics influence pedestrian decision-making in high-risk situations. This project aims to comprehensively investigate the interplay of factors influencing pedestrian crossing decisions, with particular focus on behaviors such as hesitation, jaywalking, and risk assessment. Our primary objectives are to:

  • Identify how social dynamics, including group behavior and the presence of jaywalkers, influence individual crossing decisions
  • Measure the relationship between perceived time pressure and risk-taking behaviors
  • Evaluate how different traffic conditions and infrastructure designs affect pedestrian stress (including biometric stress markers) and decision-making
  • Analyze how sociodemographic factors and prior experience with different traffic environments modify pedestrian behavior
  • Develop evidence-based recommendations for urban planners and policymakers to improve pedestrian safety

This research project employs VR to create controlled yet realistic urban crossing scenarios, allowing systematic manipulation of variables that would be unsafe to test in real environments. This research project will generate key insights into how social influence affects pedestrian risk-taking and how demographic and environmental factors modify these responses. By identifying which environmental elements and social cues most significantly impact crossing decisions, we will develop evidence-based recommendations for urban design that account for psychological factors in pedestrian behavior. Additionally, the proposed VR methodology will establish new standards for studying pedestrian behavior in controlled yet realistic settings, ultimately contributing to safer urban environments for everyone.

Project scope

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