Transport infrastructure

This chapter examines how transport infrastructure influences road user behaviour and safety, as well as how these insights have shaped infrastructure design. Infrastructure is defined broadly to include roads, intersections, markings, barriers, lighting, vegetation, advertising structures, and facilities for cyclists and pedestrians. The chapter first outlines methods for assessing the impact of infrastructure on behaviour, including crash-based analyses, naturalistic observations, and experimental approaches such as simulators and microsimulations. It then discusses risk factors arising from features such as curves, lane width, intersections, railway crossings, roadside elements, and advertising. These factors are considered in relation to psychological processes including perception, anticipation, mental workload, habituation, and the role of subjective risk. The second part traces the evolution of infrastructure design through three phases: the rise of automobilism, which prioritised motor traffic at the expense of safety and liveability; the emergence of traffic calming, which rebalanced streets in favour of more sustainable and inclusive use; and the development of Vision Zero, which redefines safety as a shared responsibility and calls for self-explaining and forgiving roads. The chapter concludes that designing infrastructure in line with human cognitive limits and behavioural tendencies is essential for reducing crashes and creating safer transport systems.