Cycling Experience in the Digital Road Environment: A Digital Twin Video-Based Experiment

Abstract

Cycling experience is increasingly recognised as a critical factor shaping participation in active mobility, yet it remains weakly represented within digital road models and infrastructure performance frameworks. Existing studies have explored perceived cycling comfort and safety using surveys, images, and naturalistic videos; however, these approaches often face limitations in realism, experimental control, or scalability. This study presents a video-based experimental framework built on a high-fidelity digital representation of an urban road environment to operationalise cycling experience under controlled conditions. A series of video scenarios were generated in which key infrastructural and environmental attributes, including surface condition, lighting quality, time of day, crowding, and facility type, were systematically varied while holding all other factors constant. The experiment was deployed through an online survey platform, enabling scalable participation and consistent scenario exposure. While the primary contribution of the paper lies in the experimental design and measurement strategy, preliminary empirical findings indicate systematic variations in perceived cycling experience across environmental conditions, as well as heterogeneity in individual responses. These results demonstrate the potential of controlled digital environments for capturing experiential dimensions that are not adequately represented in conventional infrastructure evaluation. The proposed framework illustrates how digital representations of road environments can bridge the gap between subjective cycling experience and infrastructure assessment, supporting more inclusive, human-centred approaches to transport planning and digital road management.