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 Environment 2

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 Environment 3

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 4

We used a framework from BIT UK for the analysis Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment 5

Outcomes Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment 6

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 Environment 7

Tailor intervention, based on a good understanding Useful ingredients : TimingMake 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 influencesMake use of social proof, commitment, etc. Personal Tailor-made, and try to avoid negative group-think Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment 8

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 Environment 9

Key ingredients of the personal avoidance plan Motivation: 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 Environment 10

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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 Environment 12

Conclusions ‘Avoid the Peak in Brabant’ is a best practice In many cases, there is room for improvement Essential: Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment 13