Friday Transportation Seminar: Changing Transportation Behavior... now with Science

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Jessica Roberts from Alta Planning + Design talked about how behavioral science could help promote transportation behavior change.

Roberts first introduced the topic with two examples showing how behavioral science can help in transportation behavior change. The first example illustrates the concept of loss framing or loss aversion. San Jose City Council provides City employees with free transit pass. As many researches have shown, fully subsidized transit passes highly correlate with increase of increased transit use. In a research examining how effective are the free transit pass, it was found that change of wording and formatting in the notification email can actually increase the enrollment rate by 11 times, through “Don’t let this $770 value go to waste”, “you’re already enrolled”, and making the process accessible by highlighting the activation link. Another example showed how powerful the fresh start effect was. Two groups of people were studied; one group was in an area with new Nike Biketwon station, and the other group were people moving to area with existing Biketown station. Results showed that the signup rate of new movers was 3.67 times higher than the new station group.


                                                         

                                                                                             (Pictures are clips from the talk slides)

Behavioral science or behavioral economics is a blend of economics and psychology that offers a more realistic view of human decision making. The decision-making process in human brain can be classified into two systems, a fast thinking/automatic system and a slow thinking/reflective system. In most of our daily life, we use the first system, which is intuitive and effortless. However, most of current behavioral change campaign are trying to appeal to the slow thinking brain with economic rationales like cost savings. For example, there are two ways to talk someone into taking transit to work instead of driving. Convincing this person with the economic and environmental benefits is one way to go. But, it could also be done by telling the person “75% of your colleges don't drive to work”. In this way, the person might be alternating to transit because of “social norms”, and this decision would be made through the automatic and fast thinking system.

Roberts then talked about a project using behavioral science to increase transit ridership - Translink in Vancouver, BC (Access report at tinyurl.com/TransLinkTDM). The project dealt with two key questions. Why are people driving? What might change their travel choices?

Through literature review, agency workshops and market segmentation, they presented results as follows:

Market segment 1 is people who has access to transit but still drive in most cases. The barriers to using transit for them are status quo bias, cognitive load, ambiguity aversion, and negative halo effect. The possible solutions are: nudge timing, reframe ambiguity, "Foot in the door", reframe value of commute, and simplify experience.

Market segment 2 is people who use public transit a moderate amount, but have a high interest in using it more. The barriers are mental accounting and sunk cost effect. The possible solutions are: set a default option, evoke identity, increase salience, invoke social norms, and implement intentions.

Market segment 3 is people who use public transit frequently (4-5 days per week), but are interesting in using it more. There are no specific barriers for this group. But there were still possible ways to increase their use like referral programs, gamification to redistribute demand and reframe value of commute.

Although this seminar was already two years ago, it is still very refreshing to me. When talking about transportation behavior change, I always think about increase the supply, such as building more metro lines, separating bikeways, distributing public bikes more scientifically. All these come from a traditional view of accessibility of transportation. In many cases where the infrastructure is limiting transit use, these solutions are still the most effective. However, they require large financial input and planning process. If behavioral perspective can actually be considered in policy making and operation of existing transportation infrastructures, it would be much more cost-benefit effective for those cities with lower rate of utilization. When it comes to active transportation, the behavioral intervention could be even more useful because walking and biking are often associated with certain lifestyle, where psychological factors have greater influence.

Information about the seminar: https://trec.pdx.edu/events/professional-development/friday-transportation-seminar-step-away-carwith-science-behavioral

Comments

  1. robhemphillNovember 15, 2020 at 4:41 PM

    Thanks for sharing, Jiahui! It's really interesting to combine behavior psychology and planning topics. I remember learning about how the design of subway stations affect people using the system, as confined stops with few exits made people feel unsafe. Also, similar to your "75% of your colleagues don't drive to work," that strategy has been shown to also apply in other areas such as energy consumption and voting.

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    Replies
    1. AnonymousNovember 21, 2020 at 6:08 PM

      Hey Jiahui, thanks for sharing about this TREC Friday Seminar. I agree with Rob, in that it is interesting to combine behavior psychology with planning topics. Yet the more I think about, shouldn't it be more intertwined. I mean, transportation projects already impact people's behavior on a daily basis. Also, to your point about policy decisions, I agree that the framing of issues tend to drive certain decisions made. Therefore using the strategies included in your post, perhaps we can persuade more policy decisions that favor transit and active transportation.

      Delete
  2. Dr. JoeNovember 19, 2020 at 7:51 PM

    Jiahui - your second image isn't showing up for some reason.

    Nice post, and a good one from the seminar archives! The Abou-Zeid & Ben-Akiva reading has another classic example of "switching" behavior from a small experiment that should be interesting to you and others. The transit arrival time boards are commonplace now, but I remember when they were new CTA (Chicago) found that riders at stops with real-time arrival info perceived that transit service had improved...even where it hadn't! I'll see if I can dig up the study.

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