The Infrastructure-Perception Gap: Examining the Role of Transportation Infrastructure in Mediating Safety Perceptions for Active Travel

Term Start:

August 1, 2026

Term End:

August 31, 2027

Budget:

$125,358

Keywords:

Infrastructure, Safety, Travel Behavior

Thrust Area(s):

Data Modeling and Analytic Tools, Understanding User Needs

University Lead:

Georgia Institute of Technology

Researcher(s):

Subhrajit Guhathakurta; Rounaq Basu

While extensive research demonstrates that perceived safety influences active travel behavior, the relationship between safety perceptions and transportation infrastructure characteristics remains inadequately understood. Traditional safety studies rely primarily on crash data, which often fails to align with how travelers perceive safe environments. This research addresses a critical gap by investigating how transportation infrastructure mediates safety perceptions among active travelers and subsequently affects their travel behavior and route choices. The study poses three key questions: (1) How does transportation infrastructure shape safety perceptions of people walking, biking, and rolling? (2) How, and to what extent, does infrastructure affect travelers’ mode and route choice decisions? (3) Do more complete streets enhance safety perceptions and actual travel safety? It builds on the team’s existing computer vision analyses of streetscape factors and travel behavior studies across Atlanta, Berlin, Boston, and Chicago, to develop person-centric measures of perceived safety. The approach leverages established databases and tools for characterizing transportation infrastructure and built environments, along with discrete choice models representing travel behavior decisions. Unlike previous studies that included safety-related variables without isolating perceived safety measures, this research will explicitly examine the relative importance of transportation infrastructure versus broader built environment factors. The findings will inform targeted infrastructure investments to enhance safety perceptions and promote active transportation, contributing to more effective complete streets design and implementation strategies.

Project scope

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