Abstract
Transportation infrastructure provision is critical to the development of urban areas. Transport
infrastructure such as roads, bridges, and ports are increasingly becoming the corner stone in
determining the strength of cities, improving the quality of lives and overall socio-economic
development and growth of economies. However, these projects are stochastic in nature and
fraught with uncertainties which, if not accurately predicted, can lead to inadequate
assessment and management of risks. The aim of the present paper is to identify critical factors
which moderate traffic demand over a long period of time, and which should ideally be
included in transport demand forecasts. A detailed review of literature was conducted from
online journals, conference proceedings and theses using databases including Science Direct,
Ebscohost, Google, Emerald and ASCE Library. Findings show that socio-economic factors
(such as income, age, employment, vehicle operating costs, fuel price and tax polices), sociocultural
factors (such as security, comfort, alternative/competing transport modes, leisure
time), and environmental factors (such as pollution, traffic congestion, distance from station
and frequency of trips) influence traffic demand. These findings would provide valuable
evidence for adequate management of risks in infrastructure planning, and for public policy.