Safety and Sustainability in Modern Transportation Systems
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 August 2026 | Viewed by 13
Special Issue Editor
Interests: traffic psychology; driving behavior; attention shifting; moral disengagement; sustainable mobility
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
This Special Issue will explore the dynamic and interdisciplinary field of road safety, human behavior, and sustainable mobility, with a particular emphasis on the psychological, technological, and engineering dimensions involved in promoting safer and more efficient transport systems.
At the heart of road safety and mobility lies the human factor: how individuals perceive risk, process information, make decisions, and interact with complex environments—both real and virtual. The increasing use of simulation technologies, such as driving simulators and virtual reality systems, allows for researchers to investigate these processes in depth and to develop targeted interventions for improving road-user behavior.
At the same time, the integration of advanced technologies—including driver-assistance systems, real-time data monitoring, and intelligent infrastructures—requires a systemic approach that combines behavioral science, engineering, and urban design. Understanding how people adapt (or fail to adapt) to automated features, how they interpret interface cues, and how they respond under stress or distraction is critical to ensuring that innovation translates into real-world safety benefits.
We invite original research and reviews that address, among others, the following topics:
- Human factors in road safety and mobility behavior;
- Cognitive and emotional processes in risk perception and decision-making;
- Simulation and virtual environments for training and research;
- Driver-monitoring technologies (eye-tracking, biometrics, telemetry);
- Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems (ADAS) and human–machine interactions;
- Psychological assessment of drivers in vulnerable or at-risk populations;
- Road infrastructure and urban planning for behavioral safety;
- Interdisciplinary strategies for sustainable and inclusive mobility;
- Educational programs and communication tools for behavior change.
Manuscripts will be peer-reviewed to ensure scientific rigor and rapid publication. By fostering collaboration between psychologists, engineers, designers, educators, and policy-makers, this Special Issue aims to offer a comprehensive perspective on how to design mobility systems that are not only smart and sustainable, but also psychologically aware and behaviorally effective.
Dr. Pierluigi Cordellieri
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- road safety
- human factors
- risk perception
- sustainable mobility
- driving simulation
- driver behavior
- human–machine interactions
- advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS)
- behavioral change
- transportation psychology
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