The present report is the initial outcome of the research project "Road and traffic environments and the behaviour of road users" which is being conducted at the Swedish Road and Traffic Research Institute (VTI) for the National Swedish Road Administration (NSRA). The report presents a general introduction to the study of road user behaviour with emphasis on the relationship between the road and traffic environments and the behaviour of road users. Three different approaches are considered relevant to the study of road users' actual traffic behaviour: (1) A system approach, in which the interaction between the main components of the traffic system, i.e. the road user, the vehicle and the traffic environment, is analysed in order to evaluate the process of road transportation and a variety of traffic events; (2) A control model, which relates the demands for control associated with the task of transportation to the road user's psychological control of the task, and (3) A classical human information processing approach. These three approaches are considered fundamental to the empirical investigations of road user behaviour that have been planned within the framework of the research project.
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