Post on 11-Jan-2016
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In order to change travel behaviour, you must understand people
ECOMM 2014
Victoria Dekker,Odette van de Riet,and Friso Metz
Netherlands Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment
The Dutch programme ‘Optimising Use’
• Smart use of infrastructure• Improving accessibility of 12 urban regions • Cooperation between government, science and industry
• Goals:– Improve traffic flows– Reduce congestion – Make travelling safer, less time-consuming,
cheaper and more comfortable
Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment2
The Dutch programme ‘Optimising Use’ (continued)
• 300 projects with measurable outcomes• Tailored to the 12 regions
• Mix of solutions, e.g.:– Spread traffic volumes over the course of the day– Promote e-working– Promote the use of alternative transport modes
• Innovation: connecting services, behaviour and technology
Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment3
To get the best out of the programme,we analysed more than 100 cases
Input:• Existing evaluation reports • Primarily cases from projects executed
prior to the start of the programme
Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment
Output: • Qualitative conclusions on behavioural mechanisms• No quantitative conclusions due to poor quality of data
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We used a framework from BIT UK for the analysis
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Outcomes
Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment6
It all starts with a good understanding of people’s
behaviour
Good understanding of current and desired behaviour is a:
– Prerequisite
– Pre-investment
Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment7
Tailor intervention, based on a good understanding
Useful ingredients:
• Timing Make use of ‘discontinuities’• Ease Remove any hurdles• Motivation - Make it rewarding (monetary or non-monetary)
- Provide feedback
- Strengthen will-power
- Make experience nice (not unnecessarily harsh)• Social influences Make use of social proof, commitment, etc.• Personal Tailor-made, and try to avoid negative group-
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An example: ‘Avoid the Peak in Brabant’
• Participants received financial reward if they avoided peak traffic in Den Bosch and Eindhoven
• With the ‘personal avoidance plan’, a 27% higher success rate
Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment9
Key ingredients of the personal avoidance planMotivation:• By making a personal avoidance plan, people strengthened their will-
power (‘implementation intention’, ‘self persuasion’)• Participants got extra motivated by feedback on their travel behaviour
Social factors:• Also feedback on the travel behaviour of others (‘social proof’)• By submitting the plan, people felt themselves committed
Personal:• The travel information provided was tailor-made
Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment10
Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment11
Invest in monitoring and evaluation
• Test-Learn-Adapt, just like BIT UK• Monitoring and evaluation requires preparation• The basis is found in the previous two steps
Only then do you know what to monitor
Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment12
Conclusions
• ‘Avoid the Peak in Brabant’ is a best practice
• In many cases, there is room for improvement
• Essential:
Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment13