A Nudge in the Right Direction

‘A Nudge in the Right Direction’ is a collaborative initiative, part-funded by the Road Safety Trust, to test the effectiveness of novel pedestrian crossings designed to encourage safe crossing amongst adults.

The project spanned two cities and tested two designs, delivered by a partnership compromised of Merseyside Road Safety Partnership, Liverpool City Council, Safer Roads Humber, and Hull City Council, alongside behavioral science consultancy, So-Mo, and road safety specialists, Agilysis.

Collaboration was integral to this project: bringing together expertise from multiple agencies enabled statistical analysis and behavioral insights of the problem to be delivered in on-road interventions for testing. Our research revealed that 22% of incidents occurred near pedestrian crossings.

A behavioral deep dive informed the creation of a behavioral intervention which we then tested in a real-world trial.

Analysis of results demonstrated a significant 14% increase in crossing usage at the test site.

This strategic, creative solution, backed by rigorous research and real-world trials, stands as an exemplary model within the transportation sector and is a testament to the transformative power of strategic vision, creativity, and a commitment to high-quality research.