Towards Smarter Urban Mobility: Willingness to Pay for an Advanced Traveller Information System in Lyon

Advanced traveller information systems (ATIS) are meant to assist people in their daily travel decisions as well as to prompt a shift from cars to alternative and more environmentally-friendly transport strategies. Not many comprehensive studies have been undertaken so far in order to assess the willingness to pay (WTP) for ATIS, despite a development of these tools during the last two decades. This paper aims at analysing the WTP for Optymod’Lyon, a smartphone application which plans your journey travels using real-time information about all available transport modes. To this end, a quali-quantitative approach was adopted, administering a questionnaire to participants and organising focus groups before and after the test of the application. A sample of 42 people living in the metropolitan area of Lyon was involved. Results showed four clusters of participants: idealists, pragmatics, the ambiguous and opportunists. A strong majority of idealists and pragmatics were unwilling to pay, mainly for economic reasons and the availability on the market of free information. They record a lower share of trips to work and a higher share for leisure, shopping and study purposes. Those willing to pay (of which 37.8% were opportunists) report a low monthly charge level (0.2–3 €/month) and are mainly highly-educated car users, travelling for work

Last mile freight distribution and transport operators’ needs: which targets and challenges?

The paper aims at investigating the needs of three sets of stakeholders – retailers and HoReCa, transport operators and local authorities – aimed at designing a dynamic and participatory platform of services and applications for the optimisation of the last mile urban logistics. The research has been carried out in the city of Torino where some integrated services will be introduced: a) management and booking of loading/unloading areas; b) experimental dropbox for collection and delivery; c) the introduction of dynamic access to the limited traffic zone (ZTL, Zona a Traffico Limitato); d) real-time dynamic optimisation of routes. To meet this goal a survey has been administered to a sample of transport operators, points of sale, public administration. The survey has been designed using a quali-quantitative method (web-questionnaire, interviews and focus groups). The results have showed a large gap between the needs of the operators (transport operators and retailers) and the strategies that the administration would seek to implement. A lack of interaction between the stakeholders has led to misperceive the problems that the carriers have to face daily and to overestimate the importance of the technology in solving the last mile issues. Prior to designing complex and expensive platforms, it is fundamental to implement some basic measures, closely related to the efficiency of the unloading and delivery of goods within the urban centre

Case study on effects of the mandatory validation on bus commercial speed

The paper aims to define the new operational requirements and procedures to allow the Gruppo Torinese Trasporti (Torino public transport company) to implement mandatory validation without negative impacts on both the company and the users. To this end, a four-step methodology has been put forward: a) choice of the reference route; b) sampling plan and data collection; c) data analysis design and model specification and d) definition and analysis of future scenarios. Attained results show an increase of commercial speed from 1.5% to 14.5%, and an increase of the proportion of total dwell time on total trip time from 1 to 13 points. The most unfavourable situation for the company would be banning people from boarding the bus/tram through any door (the case today). Indeed, it would require an increase of trips in the morning peak hour in order to maintain the same time interval at bus stops. However, the impact on passengers’ travel time is non negligible since total vehicle trip time shows a rise of up to 10 minutes during weekends shifts (from 62 minutes in the current situation to 72 minutes for the worst case scenario). Thus, the present system limits the outcomes negatively for the users in terms of waiting time. However, a change could lead to such positive consequences as fuller passenger cooperation to validate tickets/passes and a more ordered boarding, thus reducing fraud and improving the image of the company

Case study on effects of the mandatory validation on bus commercial speed

The paper aims to define the new operational requirements and procedures to allow the Gruppo Torinese Trasporti (Torino public transport company) to implement mandatory validation without negative impacts on both the company and the users. To this end, a four-step methodology has been put forward: a) choice of the reference route; b) sampling plan and data collection; c) data analysis design and model specification and d) definition and analysis of future scenarios. Attained results show an increase of commercial speed from 1.5% to 14.5%, and an increase of the proportion of total dwell time on total trip time from 1 to 13 points. The most unfavourable situation for the company would be banning people from boarding the bus/tram through any door (the case today). Indeed, it would require an increase of trips in the morning peak hour in order to maintain the same time interval at bus stops. However, the impact on passengers’ travel time is non negligible since total vehicle trip time shows a rise of up to 10 minutes during weekends shifts (from 62 minutes in the current situation to 72 minutes for the worst case scenario). Thus, the present system limits the outcomes negatively for the users in terms of waiting time. However, a change could lead to such positive consequences as fuller passenger cooperation to validate tickets/passes and a more ordered boarding, thus reducing fraud and improving the image of the company

The effects of the multimodal real time information systems on the travel behaviour

This paper aims at assessing the effects on travel behaviour of a multimodal real-time information navigator for smartphone, developed within the project Optimod’Lyon and launched in May 2015. To this end, a quali-quantitative approach was adopted, administering a questionnaire and organising focus groups before and after the test of the application, involving a stratified sample of 50 people living in the metropolitan area of Lyon. The Theory of Planned Behaviour was used as the theoretical framework for the questionnaire design, investigating attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control. To evaluate the behavioural change, data were analysed using parametric and non-parametric tests, factor analysis and binary logistic regression. The positive attitude towards Optimod’Lyon lessened over time. After the test, the use of the different travel modes remained stable, showing a consistency on the most used mode, on behavioural patterns and attitudes, strongly related to habits and to the frequency of the past behaviour

Toward Policies to Manage the Impacts of Autonomous Vehicles on the City: A Visioning Exercise

There is great uncertainty about the transition from human to autonomous driving vehicles (AVs), as well as about the extent and direction of their potential impacts on the urban built environment. Planners are aware of the importance of leading this transition but are hesitant about how to proceed, and public administrations generally show a passive attitude. One of the reasons is the difficulty of defining long-term visions and identifying transition paths to achieve the desired future. The literature on AVs is growing rapidly but most of the visions proposed so far do not consider in detail how circulation and parking of AVs will (or could) be differently regulated in cities. In this study, three visions for the Italian city of Turin are proposed. The aim of these visions is to highlight how different forms of regulation of AV circulation and parking can impact on the sustainability and livability of the city. A focus group and a set of interviews with experts and stakeholders were used to validate the three visions and assess their advisability and sustainability. This visioning exercise is the first step in the development of a backcasting process

Steering disruption: a backcasting approach to govern the spatial impacts of the diffusion of automated vehicles in Turin

The diffusion of autonomous vehicles (AVs) is expected to increase rapidly in the next decades and its impacts can be potentially disruptive. To date, scientific literature on AVs mostly focused on technological innovation, safety issues, ethical dilemmas and normative aspects. A growing number of studies also addressed social aspects and potential demand for AVs. While at first less attention has been given to spatial and territorial impacts that AVs will determine, and on the need to govern their diffusion, concerns and literature on these issues are rapidly growing. Assuming the governance of AVs diffusion as a key aspect to limit their possible negative impacts on urban public space, this paper draws on the preliminary results of a research project led by Politecnico di Torino. The project adopts a backasting approach that considers how circulation and parking of AVs should be differently regulated in various parts of the city. The paper highlights how defining future visions of AV regulation for these backcasting exercises raises issues and questions, that are relevant for implementing policies to control AV impacts on urban public spaces

Road pricing: How people perceive a hypothetical introduction. The case of Lyon

International audienceFollowing Singapore (1975), some metropolitan areas introduced pricing schemes to make car users aware of the real costs of their trip. This research looks at citizens׳ reactions to the hypothetical introduction of a road pricing scheme in Lyon (France). People׳s perceptions were investigated through a sample of 61 persons selected according to a stratified sampling plan. A web-questionnaire was administered to the participants, and eight focus groups were then organised, each including about 7–8 persons. The focus groups allowed us to investigate the participants׳ opinions, emotions, and reactions to the hypothetical introduction of different road pricing schemes in the urban area.This research has largely confirmed what found in previous studies and its key additional contribution is the clustering of citizens according to their reactions. Different groups of people showed dissimilar attitudes and opinions about the effect of road pricing, but the whole sample agreed upon the need for a coherent policy both for transport planning and management in the Lyon metropolitan area, while respecting freedom of mobility. In fact, citizens expect that a reduction of their freedom to move by car should be compensated with a strong and clear policy to improve the alternative modes and want to know clearly how revenues will be spent. A clear communication policy should be defined and this should be tailored according to the different groups defined in this paper

Travellers' Attitude Towards Road Pricing: a Comparison of Quali-Quantitative Segmentation Techniques

This paper proposes a comparison of different travellers’ segmentation techniques, both qualitative and quantitative, based on road pricing acceptability. A questionnaire was ad hoc designed and administered to a sample of 61 people living in Lyon metropolitan area, selected to include various profiles as regards travel habits and socio-economic characteristics. An Exploratory Factor Analysis allowed defining the latent constructs and, then, both the K-means and the Hierarchical Cluster Analyses were carried out. The outcomes of these clustering techniques allowed the comparison both between quantitative methods and with a grouping exercise previously conducted on data collected through Focus Group discussions (involving the same sample). The in-depth understanding of the participants’ profile, thanks to the qualitative analysis, allowed to validate the clustering results but also to detect some inconsistencies. These latter may be due to the recurrent problem of low attention of the respondents when answering surveys. Instead, a deeper knowledge thanks to the discussions showed insights into the cognitive mechanism of people, while the quantitative clustering highlighted a group declaring a high Willingness-To-Pay for a better environmental quality, which was not evident from the qualitative segmentation. We can conclude that the use of a mixed approach (quali-quantitative) in investigating such complex issues is valuable since it allows smaller samples (properly stratified), making surveys more economically affordable without losing knowledge about users’ perceptions, preferences and intentions, as well as about how transport policies (notably pricing ones) affect travel behaviour

INVESTIGATE CITIZENS’ REACTIONS TOWARDS THE HYPOTHETIC INTRODUCTION OF A ROAD PRICING SCHEME IN LYON (FRANCE)

Since Singapore (1975), some metropolitan areas have introduced pricing schemes to make car users aware of the real costs of their trip. This research delves at citizens’ reactions towards an hypothetic introduction of a road pricing scheme in Lyon (France). People’s perceptions were investigated through a sample of 61 persons selected according to: age, gender, household composition, occupation, income level and residence location. A web-questionnaire was administered to the participants, and eight focus groups were then organized, each including 7-8 persons. The focus groups allowed to investigate the participants’ opinions, emotions, and reactions towards a hypothetical introduction of different road pricing schemes in the urban area. Finally, another web-questionnaire was addressed to collect quantitative data to supplement the qualitative outcomes of the focus groups. An often evoked outcome is a likely progressive urbanization, but what the whole sample agreed upon is the quest for a coherent policy both for transport planning and management in the Lyon metropolitan area, while respecting the freedom of mobility. Qualitative methods allows monitoring citizens’ emotions, their reactions to road pricing, and changes of opinions when issues are analysed from multiple points of view. The outcomes highlight the importance of using alternative methods when pricing issues are investigated