PSITMOS Psychology of Traffic and Sustainable Mobility

The Post-Graduate Course in Psychology of Traffic and Sustainable Mobility dwells on topics such as the evaluation of road user behaviours, the psychological and emotional processes linked to risk perception, and the choice of transport mode. 

The learning modules include classroom lessons, testimonials and seminars, mostly held by external experts belonging to different sectors of psychology and other fields, such as doctors and engineers. Lessons will promote active participation. Constant interaction supports class learning and involvement on the topics treated, also through hands-on activities, with driving style detection tools and cognitive safe driving pre-requisites, emotional reaction training tools, and debates on topics such as the promotion of behavioural change and ethical AI aspects with respect to automated driving. In this way, the course will promote also cross-sectional competences, through group-class cooperation. Moreover, the final report or project work will require students to implement the knowledge acquired during the course, in a proactive project, in one of the sectors the courses focuses on.

The Post-Graduate Course in Psychology of Traffic and Sustainable Mobility is addressed to Psychology graduates with a Bachelor or Master’s Degree, and trains Traffic Psychologist professionals, as set out in the CNOP (2013; https://www.psy.it/allegati/aree-pratica-professionale/psicologo_del_traffico.pdf).

Career perspectives include collaboration and consultancy services toward:

• School institutions; 
• Companies and public administrations;
• Driving schools and automotive education centres;
• Companies providing automotive services for public transport;
• Enterprises and companies that promote road safety, and accident prevention in private mobility and in progress;
• Local Medical Commissions that ascertain the fitness to drive.

The professional competences provided help to collaborate with other professional figures to plan road safety promotion and road accident prevention interventions, assess the fitness to drive, organize campaigns and actions to manage the people’s mobility demand, training of professional and non-professional drivers, also through the ability to use psychological tools to regulate emotions, and measure driving styles and cognitive pre-requisites.

The course in Psychology of Traffic and Sustainable Mobility is structured into the following teaching modules:

Module 1 – THE ROLE OF TRAFFIC PSYCHOLOGY IN SOCIETY
Safety and sustainable mobility: areas of intervention and perspectives.
Regulations and tools for Mobility Management.

Module 2 – UNDERSTANDING AND REGULATING EMOTIONS
Driving and emotional regulation.
Psychophysiological training for emotional regulation.
Anger regulation.
Cognitive-behavioral intervention techniques for emotional regulation and the promotion of adaptive behaviors.

Module 3 – SUSTAINABLE MOBILITY
Psychology in the professional field of Mobility Management.
The cultural and environmental transition of mobility.
The Mobility Manager as a facilitator of psychosocial change for individuals and communities.

Module 4 – AUTONOMOUS DRIVING AND TRANSPORT SYSTEMS
Social and psychological factors involved in the transition to autonomous driving, including ethical issues related to the use of Artificial Intelligence in self-driving systems.
Individual and group attitudes toward technological systems.
Human factors in transport systems and theoretical aspects related to traffic flow and the impact of road users’ behavior on it.

Module 5 – FACTORS UNDERLYING SAFE DRIVING
Psychological constructs of safe driving behavior, with a focus on distraction.
Safe driving: models and methods for the psychometric assessment of attentional prerequisites.
Driver Behavior Questionnaire and Attitudes toward Traffic Safety: alternatives to self-reported measures of driving behavior.
Simulated driving: theoretical and practical implications of using driving simulators as assessment tools.

Module 6 – ASSESSMENT OF DRIVING FITNESS
Assessment of driving fitness in at-risk populations: personality and cognitive variables and their mediators.
The Vienna Test System DRIVESC for assessing driving prerequisites

Traffic Psychology is a psychological intervention area widespread in Europe, however, as highlighted in a document by the Consiglio Nazionale dell’Ordine degli Psicologi (CNOP, 2013, for further information, see: https://www.psy.it/allegati/aree-pratica-professionale/psicologo_del_traffico.pdf), not yet sufficiently developed in Italy.

Key topics are focused on the psychological processes behind road users’ behaviours,and on planning and implementing interventions to induce a safer, more sustainable road behaviour. The general purpose of the course is to help to reduce health-related risks implied in mobility behaviours and connected to the use of all transport means, without excluding pedestrians, who represent a non-negligible share of the so-called ‘vulnerable’ road users, given the high risk of fatal outcomes in case of accident. The scope concerns both road safety and sustainable mobility, aspects of great relevance for public health protection and for goals 3, 4 and 11 of the Sustainable Development Agenda 2030.

The general ranking of merit for the academic year 2026/27 will be published on the Italian page of this Master according to the timing provided in the Call.