The Role of Risk Management in the Performance of Public Transportation Construction Projects for Enhancing the Quality of Access to Urban Public Spaces: A Case Study of Karaj City

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Civil Engineering, Qa .c., Islamic Azad University, Qazvin, Iran

2 1- Department of Civil Engineering, Qa .c., Islamic Azad University, Qazvin, Iran

Abstract

The results indicate that financial risks have the greatest negative impact on the performance of public transport projects, and factors related to financial constraints, bidding costs, and inaccurate cost estimation are considered the main challenges. Technical risks also have a significant negative effect on project performance, but their intensity is lower than that of financial risks. The findings further showed that the performance of public transport projects has a positive and very strong effect on the quality of access to public spaces, with the performance of the urban bus network having the highest influence. Moreover, it was revealed that the three categories of risks cannot directly explain the quality of access, but through reducing project performance, they exert an indirect yet fully significant effect on it. These results indicate that the performance of public transport projects is a critical mediating link in the relationship between risks and access quality, and effective risk management can play a decisive role in improving citizens’ access to public spaces.

Highlights

  • Urban public transport projects face numerous technical, financial, and environmental–regulatory risks that affect their performance.
  • Financial risks have the greatest negative effect on the performance of public transport construction projects in the city of Karaj, and the main challenges include resource constraints, tendering costs, and inaccurate cost estimation.
  • The performance of public transport projects plays a key mediating role in the relationship between risks and the quality of access to public spaces.
  • Improving the performance of the public transport network, especially the urban bus network, has a very strong impact on enhancing the quality of access to public spaces.
  • Effective management of project risks can indirectly but significantly improve the quality of citizens’ access to urban public spaces.

Keywords

References

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History

  • Receive Date: 14 December 2025
  • Revise Date: 11 February 2026
  • Accept Date: 25 February 2026
  • First Publish Date: 25 February 2026
  • Publish Date: 21 June 2026

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