Centre for Human Factors and Sociotechnical Systems

The Transport and Infrastructure theme is the Centre’s flagship theme with a range of leading edge research projects focused on the evaluation of road user behaviour, road infrastructure design and evaluation, the design of future vehicle and infrastructure systems, and the prevention of road trauma. These projects are underpinned by leading edge research infrastructure, including UniSC’s advanced driving simulator, the Centre’s On-Road Capability (ORCA),which is a fully instrumented vehicle supporting the naturalistic measurement of driving behaviour and performance, and advanced human performance measurement equipment (e.g. eye tracking).

Projects in this theme include Professor Salmon’s ARC Future Fellowship program of research which involves the application of novel systems analysis and design methods to better understand and prevent the fatal five road trauma behaviours, Associate Professor Read’s ARC DECRA project on the safe introduction of autonomous vehicles, and an ARC Discovery grant involving the use of on-road studies to assess interactions between different forms of road user and the redesign of intersections. We also conduct on-going research in rail level crossing safety, following the completion of a four-year ARC Linkage program involving the redesign of rail level crossing environments.

The long term impact of this theme’s contribution will be the achievement of new reductions in trauma in the transportation domains based on the adoption of new theories, methodologies, and interventions in practice.

Current projects

• GigReports
• A new complex systems approach to road trauma
• Safe Introduction of Autonomous Vehicles (SAVI) Project
• Systems thinking and rail level crossing design
• Rail safety systems analysis
• On-road studies of driver behaviour
• Distributed situation awareness and intersection design
• The Behavioural Assessment Tool for Rail Level Crossings
• Gig economy Reporting of Incidents Tool (GRIT)
• The Cyclist Reporting of Incidents Tool (CRIT)

Key researchers

• Associate Professor Gemma Read
• Professor Paul Salmon.

Theme PhD students

• Elizabeth Grey

Recent publications

King, B. Read, G. Salmon, P. Clear and present danger? Applying ecological interface design to develop an aviation risk management interface. Applied Ergonomics.

Naweed, A. Jackson, J. Read,G. Ghost trains: Australian rail in the early stages of the global COVID‐19 pandemic.  Human Factors and Ergonomics in Manufacturing & Service Industries

Walker, G. H., Mendes, L., Thompson, P., Lenne, M. G, Young, K. L., Stevens, N., Beanland, V., Filtness, A., Stanton, N. A. Salmon, P. M. (2021). Modelling Driver Decision Making at Railway Level Crossings using the Abstraction Decomposition Space. Cognition, Technology and Work, 23, 225–237  

Read, G. Beanland, V. Stanton, N. Grant, E. Stevens, N. Lenné, M. Thomas, M. Mulvihill, C. Walker, G. Salmon, P. From interfaces to infrastructure: extending ecological interface design to re-design rail level crossings. Cognition, Technology & Work 2021.

Read, G. J. M., Cox, J., Hulme, A., Naweed, A., Salmon, P. M. (2021). What factors influence risk at rail level crossings? A systematic review and synthesis of findings using systems thinking. Safety Science, 138, 105207 

Salmon, P. M., Read, G. J. M., Beanland, V., Thompson, J., Filtness, A., Hulme, A., McClure, R., Johnston, I. (2019). Bad behaviour or societal failure? Perceptions of the factors contributing to drivers’ engagement in the fatal five driving behaviours. Applied Ergonomics, 74, 162-171.

Salmon, P. M., Read, G. J. M., Walker, G. H., Lenne, M. G., Stanton, N. A. (2018). Distributed Situation Awareness in Road Transport: Theory, Measurement, and Application to Intersection Design. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.

Read, G. J. M., Salmon, P. M., Lenne, M. G., Goode, N. A. (2018). A sociotechnical design toolkit for bridging the gap between systems-based analyses and system design. Human Factors and Ergonomics in Manufacturing and Service Industries, 28, 327-341.

Salmon, P. M., Read, G. J. M., Walker, G. H., Goode, N., Grant, E., Dallat, C., Carden, T., Naweed, A., Stanton, N. A. (2018). STAMP goes EAST: integrating systems ergonomics methods for the analysis of railway level crossing safety management. Safety Science, 110B, 31-46.

Young, K. L., Lenne, M. G., Salmon, P. M., & Stanton, N. A. (2018). The impact of texting on driver behaviour at rail level crossings. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 118, 269-276.

Scott-Parker, B., Curran, M., Rune, K., Lord, W., Lord, W., Salmon, P. M. (2018). Situation awareness in young novice ambulance drivers: So much more than driving. Safety Science, 102, 45-58.

Donovon, S. L., Salmon, P. M., Lenne, M. G., Horberry, T. (In Press). All in a day’s work: towards improved understanding of safety leadership during regular safety-related tasks in mining. Human Factors and Ergonomics in Manufacturing and Service Industries.

For inquiries regarding the Transport and Infrastructure theme please contact Dr Gemma Read (07) 5456 5296, gread@usc.edu.au