A hybrid Structural Equation Modeling and Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis framework for using limited samples to relate cycling performance to behavioral traits
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55329/qjgq4392Keywords:
behavioral traffic safety, bicycle safety countermeasures, cyclist safety, fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, structural equation modelingAbstract
The objective of this investigation was to explore a hybrid application of Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) and Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (FsQCA) to assess the impact of safety-related behavioural traits on the performance of bicyclists using a limited sample of data as a case study. These behavioural characteristics of cyclists are fundamental when specific cyclist groups are targeted for safety countermeasures. The data were collected from individuals who completed a survey and participated in bicycle simulator experiments. Each of the items in the survey aimed to describe how keen the rider is to take risks. The motivation for the study is the recognition that traditional statistical methods have limitations related to the model structure and the type of variables they can analyze, especially where sample sizes are limited. To address these limitations and to estimate complex relationships between variables, SEM can be used to assess the individual effect of each variable on the response variable(s). In the real-world context, however, a combination of variables can affect response variables. To address this issue, this study used the hybrid SEM-FsQCA approach, in which SEM was applied as the first step in analyzing the latent behavioural variables. Then, using the outputs of the previous step, FsQCA was applied to assess the effect of combinations of variables on the performance of cyclists. Based on SEM, none of the factors significantly affected performance, likely due to the low sample size. However, when applying FsQCA, it was observed that combinations of factors significantly affect performance. This hybrid approach was seen to be promising for the case study application and, in that context, to have the potential, even with smaller samples, to significantly contribute to a deep understanding of the safety-related behavioral traits, which can be used in designing targeted countermeasures to improve their safety.
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Author Biographies
Mahsa Jafari, Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada
Mahsa Jafari is a Ph.D. candidate in Transportation engineering at Toronto Metropolitan University. Her research interest is road safety analysis, focusing on the advanced application of different statistical and machine-learning techniques.
CRediT contribution: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Methodology, Software, Writing—original draft.
Bhagwant Persaud, Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada
Bhagwant Persaud is a professor of Civil Engineering at Toronto Metropolitan University. His main research work has been in modelling the relationship between safety and highway characteristics and in the application of these models in crash- and non crash-based safety evaluation methodology. His research has resulted in a substantial number of peer-reviewed papers. He was a member of the Transportation Research Board Task Force for the Development of a Highway Safety Manual (HSM) and has worked on several research projects that developed content for the first and the forthcoming second editions of the HSM. He is an Associate Editor of Transportation Research Record, Journal of the Transportation Research Board.
CRediT contribution: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Supervision, Writing—review & editing.
Carmelo D'Agostino, Lund University, Sweden
Carmelo D'agostino is Associate Professor at Lund University in Sweden where he is the leader of the Traffic Safety and Behaviour group inside the Transport and Roads Division at the Faculty of Engineering. In this capacity, he is the initiator and coordinator of the Traffic Safety Virtual Reality Hub at Lund University. His main research area is traffic safety and performance-based highway geometric design. Carmelo is the principal investigator of several research and innovation projects at the Swedish national level and European levels.
CRediT contribution: Data curation, Writing—review & editing.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Mahsa Jafari, Bhagwant Persaud, Carmelo D'Agostino
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
Grant numbers Appl. ID RGPIN-2023-03787
