Providing Personalized Feedback to Investigate the Role of Social Influence on Travel Behaviour

The successful promotion of active travel is beneficial from both a public health perspective and a transport management one. Providing feedback to travellers about their travel behaviour is a popular method to encourage active travel and reduce the use of car. Past studies that have measured the effect of feedback on mode choice and distance travelled by different modes have done so using simplifying assumptions, i.e. measuring its effect independently of the nature and directionality of the feedback provided. The authors collected data as part of a large survey which involved respondents using a GPS tracking app for two weeks. In addition to a control group, which does not receive any feedback, one treatment group receives feedback after one week only about their own travel activity, while another group is also provided with information about how they compare with others. The authors analyse the impact of this feedback on behaviour in the second week. They measure the effect of being in the different treatment groups on several outcomes, such as calories burnt, CO2 emitted and distance travelled by active and motorised modes. They find significant differences, with bigger reductions in car use among those who receive information about others. The authors also find the feedback effects to be asymmetrical with respect to a reference, in such a way that only those who pollute more than others reduce their emissions. In summary, their findings offer additional insight into how people react to different types of feedback, providing a valuable tool for sustainable transport policy.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ADB10 Standing Committee on Traveler Behavior and Values. Providing Personalized Feedback to Investigate the Role of Social Influence on Travel Behavior: This is an alternate title.
• Authors:
  • Palma, David
  • Crastes, Romain
  • Calastri, Chiara
  • Hess, Stephane
  • O'Neill, Vikki
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 97th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2018-1-7 to 2018-1-11
• Date: 2018

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 19p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Global Positioning System; Nonmotorized transportation; Social factors; Sustainable transportation; Travel behavior
• Uncontrolled Terms: Feedback; Social influence
• Subject Areas: Highways; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Planning and Forecasting;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01661397
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 18-05610
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Feb 27 2018 9:45AM