Our transportation systems have become increasingly complex and interconnections between the human and technical elements are stronger than ever. As such, the role of Human Factors and Ergonomics (HFE) in shaping our understanding of sociotechnical systems is increasingly important. HFE theories, methods and approaches lend themselves to understanding transportation systems from individual, team, and system levels of analysis encompassing the technologies and environments of transport systems, the end users of these systems, resource providers bounded by legislation and policy that guides decision making, through to the national and international governing bodies that ultimately influence transport planning and practice at a local level. Thus, HFE should be at the forefront of understanding and evaluating our current transportation systems and designing systems of the future.
This special issue of Transportation Planning and Technology aims to explore the role of HFE in designing, modelling, and evaluating transportation systems, particularly in areas that traditionally have not focused on sociotechnical systems as the unit of analysis such as transport planning. Potential topics could include (but are not limited to):
- Application of HFE methods to design, model, or evaluate sociotechnical systems in transport
- HFE analyses of new ways of travelling in response to new ways of working
- Usability assessments of equipment and/or systems in transport
- System-based analyses of introducing new technology into a transport system
- Case studies or Accident analyses
- Suggestions or examples of innovative HFE research and practice
- HFE approaches to risk assessment and management
- Cross-cultural HFE comparison studies
- Commentaries on future requirements for HFE
- User centric design of transport infrastructure
- HFE for transport safety and security
- Advances in Transport Ergonomics and Human Factors research
