Perceptions of safety, fairness and risk inroad spaces shared by pedestrians,cyclists and drivers

Designing shared road spaces that accommodate multiple modes of transport is central to promotingactive travel, but engagement can be hindered by perceptions of danger and unfairness, especiallyamong groups more worried about navigating shared spaces. This study used an online randomisedsurvey experiment (N = 1600) to test how design interventions, such as clearly demarcating space,removing visual obstacles and adding signage, influence perceptions across different shared spaces:pedestrian crossings, bus stop islands, car parking adjacent to cycle lanes, left turns across cyclelanes, and roundabouts. Participants were shown existing and AI-generated images of spaces with orwithout interventions. They rated the spaces for perceived safety, fairness, yielding frequency andinjury risk. Interventions that removed visual obstacles and clearly demarcated space improvedperceptions across pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers. Other interventions, such as legislative finewarnings or integrated (protected) roundabouts, had mixed or context-dependent effects. Moderationanalyses indicated that interventions were as or more effective among individuals more worried abouttravel in daily life. These findings demonstrate that context-sensitive shared space design canharmonise perceptions across diverse road users, with implications for transport policy and urbandesign.