Aligning policies and business strategies for sustainable mobility with consumer and citizen attitudes, behavior, and policy preferences
Mobility Initiative Project
Switzerland currently faces diverse demands to increase transportation capacity, while simultaneously decreasing the ecological footprint of mobility. Balancing both efforts can only succeed if future mobility systems are closely aligned with the attitudes, behaviors, and policy preferences of the Swiss population. This project addresses several fundamental sustainability questions at the mobility demand-supply interface, from the viewpoint of consumers and citizens. As to mobility attitudes, behavior, and preferences (demand), we will examine the relationship between residence and workplace choices, and mobility demand, as well as consumer and citizen preferences on how to make commuting and other travel more sustainable and conducive to personal well-being. Regarding mobility tools and funding (supply), we will focus on products and services that public and private mobility providers could offer in response to changes in demand, and on how consumers and citizens are likely to respond to particular adjustments in this regard. These issues will be addressed through co-designed (transdisciplinary) research within the framework of the Swiss Mobility Panel (SMP), the most advanced platform in Switzerland for generating and analyzing data from large-scale, nationally representative surveys and survey experiments on mobility attitudes, behaviors, and policy preferences. The research will focus both on longer-term trends in mobility attitudes, behavior, and policy preferences, within and between individuals, and a series of survey-embedded (choice) experiments that examine four specific mobility topics in greater depth. Our research will fill important gaps in scientific research on the mobility demand-supply nexus from a consumer and citizen perspective. It will also provide important insights for policy-makers and mobility services providers into consumer and citizen acceptance of various policy interventions and business strategies that are or might be used to make future mobility more sustainable.
