Dr Shahram Heydari

Research groups

Research interests

• Transportation safety
• Travel behaviour
• Traffic-related air pollution
• Transport and health
• Statistical and econometric methods, including discrete choice analysis

Current research

Transport has a significant bearing on human health and well-being, examples of which are traffic injuries sustained by road users and people’s exposure to air pollution caused by traffic. To this end, my research is at the intersection of transportation and public health, being centred on transportation safety and planning ‒ including roadway, railway, and active modes of transport. One direction of my research is focused on understanding growing social/spatial inequalities in this context. With the aim of answering policy related questions, I predominantly use advanced quantitative and computational techniques, in particular Bayesian methods such as Bayesian nonparametrics, which offer considerable promise in modelling transport. My main research interests are as follows.

1. Transportation safety: This area mainly focuses on fundamental research in traffic safety at both micro- and macro-levels, including safety of roadway, railway, and active modes, with a focus on studies that provide key information for traffic injury prevention, risk mitigation, and proactive safety policy development. I am also interested in understanding traffic safety implications of emerging transport services/technologies.
2. Transport-related air quality: Large amounts of air pollutants are produced by the transportation sector. It is therefore important to quantify traffic contribution to air quality, estimate air pollution exposure in different modes of transport, predict air quality in urban settings, and model air pollution to identify its determinants and spatiotemporal distribution. This in turn helps to design air pollution reduction strategies and estimate its adverse effects on the environment and public health.
3. Travel demand and behavioural modelling: A number of studies have documented health benefits of autonomous vehicles, public transit, and active modes of transport. To promote healthy transportation behaviours, which also help to reduce air pollution, this area of research aims at answering questions such as how can we persuade people to choose low emission vehicles? How does people’s choice of active modes relate to their sociodemographic characteristics, physical/mental health, and well-being? How do we reduce drivers’ hostile attitudes towards cyclists and pedestrians?