Effects of human factors on public use of standing-type personal mobility vehicle

To significantly reduce the occurrence of severe traffic accidents, reducing the number of vehicles in urban areas should be considered. Personal mobility is essential for realizing this reduction, which requires consideration of the last-/first-mile problem. The overall objective of our research is to solve this problem using standing-type personal mobility vehicles as transportation devices; however, to evaluate the feasibility of such vehicles as future mobility devices, it is necessary to evaluate their operation under real-world conditions. Therefore, in this study, experimental and survey data relating to the velocity, stability, safety, and comfort of a standing-type personal mobility device are obtained to evaluate its performance in three different scenarios. The results show that the personal mobility vehicle is socially well received and can be safely operated on sidewalks, irrespective of the gender or age of the driver; moreover, the results suggest that subjects who routinely use a bicycle are adept at avoiding and absorbing the impacts of small holes and bumps, thereby yielding reduced acceleration values (in all directions) and pitch, roll, and yaw rates. This is anticipated to benefit the future development of personal mobility devices and help realize effective and accessible public transport systems, as well as reduce the number of vehicles in urban areas.