Nudging walking and cycling in extreme car-dependent communities

Abstract

The urgency to shift current mobility practices to more sustainable, active travel modes is evident and comes from environmental, climate change and public health necessities. Policies aimed at curtailing car use have been deployed in different contexts with varying degrees of performance. Techniques such as information dissemination and persuasion can influence voluntary travel behaviour change and mode choice, including interventions that break habit through the provision of travel route and timing information. This study looks at a community outreach activity aimed at encouraging modal shift in the Eastern Region of Malta. The project, entitled Nudging Active Travel, involves the installation of active travel totem poles with information about distance to destinations, travel times and route information for walking and cycling. The project aims to raise awareness of the environmental and health benefits of walking and cycling and address the mismatch between objective and perceived active travel distance that may discourage occasional active travellers to reach nearby destinations on foot or by bicycle. It creates a network of safe and connected walking and cycling routes and installs totem poles that interact with digital information provided online, and easily accessible through smartphones. The paper describes the project in detail and provides some evidence as to the performance of these walking and cycling totem poles.