Generation and Analysis of Artificial Warning Sounds for Electric Scooters

Micro-mobility transportation, including electric scooters and e-bikes, could bring substantial benefits to resolving road congestion, provide an eco-friendly transportation system, offer low-cost personal transportation, and increase accessibility. Another benefit is that electric scooters are very quiet, only producing some minimal rolling noise and high frequency emission due to electric motors. Quietness of the vehicles has led to safety concerns being raised by accessibility groups, such as the Royal National Institute of Blind people (RNIB). For this reason, we have teamed up with the RNIB to explore, well-designed Acoustic Vehicle Alerting Systems (AVAS) as a potential solution to ensure vehicle detection and avoid potential conflict with pedestrians. This paper presents the key findings of a research project carried out by the University of Salford's Acoustic Research Centre, in collaboration with Dott Scooters and RNIB. The goal of this project was to develop a stand-alone warning sound system for electric scooters, with the main constraint of ensuring an appropriate balancing between vehicle awareness and noise annoyance. Based on preliminary results, this project concluded that a significant benefit, in terms of vehicle noticeability, is observed with the addition of a warning sound. Funding has been secured to carry out further research to optimise the AVAS for complex urban environments.