Do Safety Explanations Increase Perceived Safety, Trust, and Route Acceptance in Navigation Systems? Evidence from Libyan Pedestrians

Abstract

Pedestrian navigation systems increasingly recommend safer but longer routes, yet little is known about how explaining these recommendations affects user acceptance. This study investigated whether safety-based explanations may increase perceived safety, trust, and route acceptance among Libyan pedestrians. Sixty-three participants were randomly assigned to either a high-transparency condition (receiving a safety explanation for a longer route recommendation) or a low-transparency condition (receiving no explanation). The findings suggest that participants who received safety explanations reported higher perceived safety (M = 4.10 vs. 2.79, p < .001), greater trust in the navigation system (M = 4.14 vs. 2.87, p < .001), and greater willingness to accept the longer route (M = 4.69 vs. 3.13, p < .001). Perceived safety appeared to be strongly correlated with both trust (r = 0.93, p < .001) and route acceptance (r = 0.85, p < .001). These findings suggest that transparent safety explanations may effectively promote trust and acceptance of safety-oriented navigation recommendations, with potential implications for pedestrian navigation system design in contexts where safety concerns shape walking decisions.