After establishing a common definition of Traffic Safety Culture (TSC), one of the next tasks in the TRUST project was to make an inventory of current interventions and good practices applying a cultural approach to road safety, and to derive success factors and barriers. To explore this at community and organisational level, we consulted experts and reviewed research and practical examples from road safety and other safety critical transport domains and sectors.  

The review of community-level TSC interventions indicates that this is an emerging field with an evidence base that is still scarce and fragmented. Few interventions explicitly label themselves as „cultural” and the identified studies vary considerably in target groups, intervention strategies, theoretical approaches, and evaluation designs. This highlights the importance of TRUST to streamline the concept of TSC interventions and to provide guidance on effective ways to build, implement and evaluate them. The proposed fine-tuned concept is that TSC interventions aim at changing, in a relatively short time period, shared ways of thinking/feeling about traffic safety (shared values, norms, beliefs and/or attitudes) that are known to sustainably influence intentional behaviour among members of a bonded group of actors in the road transport system. This differs from interventions directly controlling behaviour (e.g. enforcement, infrastructure, technology), which may also lead to shared mindset changes but rather as an after-effect and indirectly. Common principles are consideration of the underlying social and cultural motives for intentional behaviour, focus on the most salient motives and use of tailored strategies. Recommended mechanisms include changes in shared beliefs “about the social environment”, positive framing and group identification, shared responsibility, and reinforcement through the wider social environment. A structured stepwise frame of success factors was developed.

The evidence base for organisational safety culture (OSC) interventions is considerably more mature, probably because the target group is more well-defined. OSC interventions may influence culture directly through leadership, communication, participation and group interaction, but also indirectly through formal organisational measures such as policies, monitoring, feedback, risk assessments and more comprehensive safety-management systems. Important mechanisms include management signalling and cultural embedding, collective sensemaking and social influence, organisational learning, and institutionalisation through repeated safety-management practices. Successful interventions generally depend on strong management commitment, employee involvement, trust, motivation for change, coherent implementation and sustained organisational attention. The Safety Ladder for safety management (Nævestad et al 2018) illustrates how several of these mechanisms can be combined in a stepwise approach to organisational road-safety management.

More details can be found in TRUST deliverable 2.2c.

photo credit: Ralf Geithe

The post Inventory of interventions to improve Traffic Safety Culture appeared first on TRUST.

When we order a meal, we rarely think about the journey to our door. For couriers, that journey is part of their working day. They travel through busy streets by bicycle, e-bike, moped, motorcycle or car, often while managing the demands of delivery work (such as dealing with time pressure, finding addresses, receiving delivery updates).

Keeping couriers safe involves more than asking them to follow traffic rules. The way companies organise deliveries, communicate with couriers and respond to safety concerns can also shape what happens on the road.

Through TRUST, Vias institute in Belgium, the Institute of Transport Economics (TØI) in Norway and the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI) are working with food delivery companies to explore how a positive traffic safety culture can become a stronger part of everyday work. The companies involved are Just Eat Takeaway.com (JET) in Belgium and foodora in Sweden. There may also be opportunities to involve other countries as the pilot develops.

The first step is to learn how companies currently approach traffic safety culture and what challenges they face. Discussions with company staff and a short questionnaire will help us develop activities that fit the realities of delivery work. One option being explored is an online teaching session on traffic safety culture for managers based on the Safety Ladder approach, combined with short learning activities that couriers can complete at a convenient time. The Safety Ladder helps transport companies improve traffic safety culture step by step. It starts with managers making safety a clear priority and builds towards more systematic ways of identifying risks and managing safety. The format will be shaped with the companies involved.

We will ask participants about their views on the importance of traffic safety culture before and after the activities to understand what they found useful and whether their thinking about traffic safety culture has changed. The lessons could help food delivery companies across Europe find practical ways to make safer journeys part of their daily work.

The post Making food deliveries safer, together appeared first on TRUST.

Traffic safety is shaped by decisions made across an organisation, not only by those working directly in transport, mobility or road safety. Recognising this, the TRUST partners TØI (NO) and Lund University (SE) have developed a free online training programme to help representatives of local and regional authorities better understand their role in creating safer and more sustainable mobility systems. Representatives from all European countries are welcome to join and register for the training which will take place on 11 & 18 November 2026.

The training programme is designed for managers, political leaders and staff working in areas such as regional and urban planning, building and land-use permits, traffic planning and management, mobility and transport, procurement, human resources, education and related fields. Combining research-based insights with practical examples, it focuses on how organisations can take a more systematic approach to improving traffic safety culture.

The main purpose of the training is to raise awareness of an organisation’s impact on traffic safety from a sustainability perspective, and of the role that course participants can play in their professional capacities. Participants will explore how different departments and functions influence traffic safety, identify opportunities for collaboration across their organisation, and learn how to embed safety into everyday decision-making processes and work more systematically with traffic safety. The programme also highlights the connection between traffic safety and broader sustainability goals.

The training consists of two short online sessions (three hours each), complemented by reflection activities and a short survey before and after the programme. Participation is free of charge. Participants who complete the programme will receive a certificate of completion. If you are interested, you can find more information here and register via this link: https://svar.toi.no/cvsxGH

Join us to find out how fostering a stronger traffic safety culture can help to create safer communities and promote more sustainable mobility for everyone.

Photo credit: vitomirov

The post How can municipalities, cities and regional authorities strengthen their Traffic Safety Culture? Free online-training for municipalities and regional authorities appeared first on TRUST.

• Project management plan – This deliverable outlines the work plan, the project bodies and the decision-making process as well as the quality assurance approach in the TRUST project.
• Data management plan – This document describes data handling of all data generated, collected and processed within the TRUST project in accordance with GDPR guidelines, the Grant Agreement and FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable).
• Dissemination and communication plan I – The dissemination, exploitation and communication (DEC) plan shows how the TRUST consortium will disseminate and communicate the knowledge generated within the project to key stakeholders and the public and to promote the project through a variety of tools with a view to maximising the expected impact of the project.
• Traffic Safety Culture: Definition and framework – The overarching aim of this deliverable is to develop definitions of organisational safety culture for road users at work (“organisational level”) and Traffic Safety Culture that can be applied to private road users in the society (e.g., at national, regional and local level).
• The TRUST platform I – This deliverable documents the successful establishment of the TRUST website as a dynamic and scalable communication instrument, laying the technical and conceptual groundwork for a comprehensive European platform on Traffic Safety Culture.
• Developments in road safety – The overarching aim of this deliverable is to examine recent developments that have shaped road transport and to analyse their implications for TSC.
• Inventory of traffic safety culture measures and good practice – Building on the TRUST definition of TSC developed in Deliverable D2.1, this report examines how cultural approaches are currently being applied to improve road safety.
• Models for traffic safety culture – This deliverable develops a conceptual model of traffic safety culture (TSC), based on scoping and conceptual reviews of existing research on TSC.
• Roadmap to pilots’ implementation – This report outlines a roadmap including procedures for implementing and evaluating pilot interventions within the TRUST project.

The post Project deliverables (reports) available on our website appeared first on TRUST.

TRUST partners continue to disseminate the work they are doing within the TRUST project at conferences, external events and in publications.

TRUST at the Civitas forum with TRUST Pilot 1 – Municipalities and regional authorities
TRUST was at the Civitas Forum held in Thessaloniki in September. It was a great opportunity not only to present our project in general, but also to disseminate details of the training course developed and run under our Pilot 1.

This training course is for municipalities and regional authorities wanting to strengthen the traffic safety culture of their organisation. The TRUST training course will be held online and starts on 11 November (EN version). To register and find more check out our website here: https://lnkd.in/e6TVAEAG

Publications using TRUST results that have been published or are awaiting publication:

The post TRUST events and publications – October 2026 update appeared first on TRUST.

The post TRUST | An abstract idea becomes tangible: a message from the project coordinators appeared first on TRUST.

Despite increasing attention in research and policy, no commonly accepted definition of TSC currently exists. Different studies and organisations have conceptualised TSC in different ways, making it difficult to compare findings, measure progress, and apply the concept consistently in practice.

One of the first actions of the TRUST project was to address this gap by developing a shared definition that can support both research and policymaking.

To achieve this, we combined several complementary approaches. Firstly, we reviewed the scientific literature to see how TSC has been defined and studied so far. Secondly, we engaged international experts in a structured consensus-building process (Delphi study) to identify TSC’s key components. Finally, we used group discussions to refine and test these ideas in practical, real-world contexts.

Across all stages of the research, strong agreement emerged, resulting in the following definition:

“Traffic Safety Culture encompasses shared values, beliefs, attitudes, norms, and patterns of behaviour that shape how traffic safety is understood and enacted within a meaningfully defined group of actors in the transport system. These groups can include road users, organisations, authorities, or other actors within the transport system.”

This definition provides a clear and consistent foundation for future research and policy development.

TSC still varies according to societal and organisational contexts. Workplace driving, everyday road use, and public sector responsibilities may each involve distinct norms, expectations and safety challenges, even when they share common underlying cultural elements. But, by moving from fragmented interpretations to a shared understanding, this common definition supports a more coordinated approach to improving road safety across Europe.

A copy of TRUST deliverable 2.1 in which the TSC definition is described in more detail will be available on our website soon.

By Uta Meesmann and Mathias De Roeck

The post From evidence to consensus: a common definition of traffic safety culture for research and policy appeared first on TRUST.

The post Studying the link between traffic safety culture and road safety outcomes appeared first on TRUST.

Traffic safety and mobility education are key elements of the Safe System and essential for developing safe and sustainable traffic behaviour. European countries committed in as early as 1968 to provide traffic safety education in schools and reaffirmed this commitment in 2001 by promoting a shared safety culture through education. But implementation still varies widely – especially at secondary school level.

The TRUST pilot in secondary schools addresses this challenge and will focus on students aged 13–18. Its main goal is to develop and validate teaching materials that will enable teachers to integrate traffic safety and mobility topics into everyday lessons with minimal additional effort.

The pilot builds on proven approaches, combining ETSC’s LEARN! Manual for developing and evaluating traffic safety and mobility education activities with the ‘Risi & Ko’ teaching concept, endorsed by the Austrian Ministry of Education.

For 13–14‑year‑old students, the pilot will develop and test teaching materials designed for use within single lessons and for easy integration into different subjects or substitute lessons. The content builds on existing Risi & Ko topics addressing risk and peer pressure, social competence, distraction, and different mobility modes. Rather than focusing on traffic rules alone, the materials aim to foster responsible behaviour by strengthening self‑regulation, cooperation, and awareness.

The materials will be tested in three countries: Bulgaria, Italy and Serbia. An online survey has already been conducted in each of the three countries to identify relevant traffic safety topics. Based on these findings, the teaching materials will now be specified, tested, and validated in three school classes per country. Additionally, the Austrian Risi & Ko materials will be expanded to include a new topic – regulating emotions.  

For 15–18‑year‑olds, where suitable materials are currently less readily available, the TRUST secondary school pilot will be more exploratory. Focus groups and testing different approaches in school classes across various regions of Austria, will investigate how best to reach older adolescents, while considering their differing attitudes and needs. An online survey on this topic is currently being prepared.

The TRUST secondary school pilot will result in a) validated teaching materials in national languages for four countries, b) insights on engaging older adolescents, and c) a recorded webinar for practitioners, available via the TRUST platform, to support traffic safety education across Europe.

By Anita Eichhorn and Daniela Knowles

The post Testing TRUST interventions in secondary schools appeared first on TRUST.

The post TRUST Podcast – Episode 1 appeared first on TRUST.