Transforming the Swiss mobility system : who are the future e-sharers?

The Swiss mobility system is undergoing a paradigm shift from fossil fuel based mobility to more carbon neutral and energy efficient ones. Yet, this transformation is still in its infancy. With the current trends of digitalisation new forms of mobility service emerge. Such service include the option of car and ridesharing as well as Mobility as a Service (MaaS) through easy-to-use mobile apps. In order to reach the CO2 target defined by the Swiss energy strategy in 2050, a key point is the electrification of passenger cars. To achieve this, it is suggested that MaaS and e-sharing platforms could foster an acceptance of electric vehicles. While many scholars already investigated the relevant factors that would promote the use of sharing or electric vehicles, less is known about the groups or segments that are open for e-sharing and MaaS. We thus adopted a top-down segmentation approach to identify relevant groups for e-sharing and MaaS, supporting policy makers and practitioners in accelerating the transformation of the Swiss mobility system by developing tailored incentives

Mode choice for commuting and leisure : a matter of lifestyle?

Based on the first edition (2016) of the Swiss Houshold Energy Demand Survey we investigate the effect of Otte’s top‐down, lifestyle‐based segmentation approach on the mode choice for commuting and leisure. Results of a multinomial logit show that Otte’s lifestyles have a significant effect on the mode choice for both commuting and leisure when controlled for income, education, age and gender. This implies that Otte’s top‐down, lifestyle‐based segmentation approach can be applied for identification of target groups and designing tailored interventions to promote sustainable means of transport. While entertainment‐oriented seem to be an appropriate target group for campaigns to change their current mode choice, the opposite is true for reflexives and hedonists

Comparing the environmental impacts of meatless and meat-containing meals in the United States

This study compares the environmental impacts of meatless and meat-containing meals in the United States according to consumption data in order to identify commercial opportunities to lower environmental impacts of meals. Average consumption of meal types (breakfast, lunch, dinner) were assessed using life cycle assessment. Retail and consumer wastes, and weight losses and gains through cooking, were used to adjust the consumption quantities to production quantities. On average, meatless meals had more than a 40% reduction in environmental impacts than meat-containing meals for any of the assessed indicators (carbon footprint, water use, resource consumption, health impacts of pollution, and ecosystem quality). At maximum and minimum for carbon footprint, meat-containing dinners were associated with 5 kgCO2e and meatless lunches 1 kg CO2e. Results indicate that, on average in the US, meatless meals lessen environmental impacts in comparison to meat-containing meals; however, animal products (i.e., dairy) in meatless meals also had a substantial impact. Findings suggest that industrial interventions focusing on low-impact meat substitutes for dinners and thereafter lunches, and low-impact dairy substitutes for breakfasts, offer large opportunities for improving the environmental performance of the average diet

What are the factors and needs promoting mobility-as-a-service? Findings from the Swiss Household Energy Demand Survey (SHEDS)

Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) is a service that supports customers' transportation needs by providing information and ticketing for a multitude of transport modes in one interface; thus, buy potentially fostering multimodality and public transport, it represents an important lever to reduce negative transportation impacts such as emissions and congestion. By means of an online survey conducted in Switzerland, we try to understand potential user needs as well as factors that would motivate the use of MaaS. Comparing the openness to use MaaS for specific trip purposes like commuting and leisure activities, we find the lowest level of openness for commuting and the highest for weekend leisure trips. Intention to reduce car usage was positively related to openness to MaaS in commuting. On the other hand, factors that positively influence openness to using MaaS for leisure activities include a higher education degree, experience with carsharing and the use of transport-related climate policy announcements directly affecting consumers. These findings suggest focusing specifically on either commuting or leisure activities when designing policy measures

The impact of spatial aspects on the supply chain and mobility demand of pharmaceutical products in e-commerce and brick-and-mortar shopping

E-commerce has gained increased popularity over the last decade. To date, there is an open debate as to whether e-commerce or brick-and-mortar shopping is environmentally less sustainable, especially due to the growing mobility resources needed for e-commerce distribution. The analysis at hand compares the CO2-equivalent emissions of e-commerce and brick-and-mortar shopping of pharmaceutical products considering spatial aspects and the typical transport modal mix of consumers when doing online and offline shopping. The object of analysis is a retailer of pharmaceutical products, more precisely, medicines, which offers, both, brick-and-mortar and online shopping possibilities. The results show that spatial aspects concerning the residential location of consumers, the vehicles used for shopping trips, the shopping basked size, and trip-chaining effects have a crucial impact on the mobility demand and CO2-equivalent emissions of the two commerce forms. In general, for rural and sub-urban areas, e-commerce results in lower CO2-equivalent emissions, while in urban areas, brick-and-mortar shopping is the favourable solution, if the consumers walk or cycle to the next pharmacy

Swiss mobility transformation to sustainability : recommendations on niche developments

One of the biggest challenges for mankind is the imminent climate crisis, if global warming exceeds two degrees by the end of this century. The transport sector is the main contributor to greenhouse gases in Switzerland and many countries in the globe. A transformation of the mobility sector to sustainability is thus coercive if we want to reduce the risks of climate change. Within this paper we provide recommendations on how to tackle this transformation by looking at possible factors in-creasing the uptake of sustainable mobility technologies using a series of stated-preference surveys and lifestyle analysis framed within the multi-level perspective. We focus on a variety of niche-developments in the mobility sector ranging from electric mobility to autonomous vehicles but also governance innovations like mobility management and tailored interventions. This report acts as a guideline on how these niches could be fostered and – as such – accelerate the sustainable trans-formation of the Swiss mobility system

Feedback loops in mobility and recommendations on system transformation – the Swiss case

To accelerate the transformation to a sustainable mobility system, we propose a causal loop diagram to better understand the dynamic behavior of policy interventions and trends. As such, we identified five core agents through a set of expert interviews. By utilizing concept maps and causal loop diagrams we further integrated subcomponents of each agent into a holistic and connected model, enabling the qualitative assessment of feedback loops. We use the example of battery electric vehicles and evaluate policy measures and trends on their potential impact on adoption. In addition, we set the causal loop diagram, trends and niche-innovations into the context of socio-economic system transformation to grasp the full potential in transforming the prevailing private, fossil fuel based, car regime providing recommendations to support this transformation. The causal loop diagram could serve as a basis for in-depth quantitative studies and deepened assessment of feedback loops in transforming mobility systems

Push and pull strategies to increase the uptake of small electric vehicles

The demand for larger, heavier, and high range battery electric vehicles (BEVs) is growing. When relying on car utilization, smaller cars with sufficient battery range for typical daily distances could reduce greenhouse gas emissions, consumption of raw materials and pedestrian fatalities. Within our stated preference study with 844 participants, we used a combination of push and pull measures to motivate conventional car users to switch to a small BEV for everyday trips and mobility services for long-range trips. Our results suggest that up to 30% of conventional car owners would be open to switch to a small BEV in combination with mobility services. This can be increased to 41% through improved charging possibilities at home and at work. Combined with a fundamental CO2 tax on fuel, up to 67% would switch. The results are relevant for transport planners and politicians in designing efficient strategies to increase the uptake of small BEVs

Carsharing experience fostering sustainable car purchasing? : investigating car size and powertrain choice

Scholars suggest that carsharing may lead to a reduction in car ownership and car travel. Research on how carsharing is connected to other sustainable effects such as an increased openness to micro to mid-sized battery electric vehicles is limited, however. We thus adopted a stated choice survey with 995 participants from Switzerland to test the car purchase preference of mobility users with and without carsharing experience. Results suggest that - for people living in the countryside - carsharing users have a 3 times higher likelihood of choosing a micro to mid-sized battery electric vehicle compared to participants without carsharing experience. We find a similar trend for people living in the agglomerations. We therefore recommend policy makers and mobility planners to take these benefits into account when planning carsharing services and its role in mobility systems

Are carsharing users more likely to buy a battery electric, plug-in hybrid electric or hybrid electric vehicle? : powertrain choice and shared mobility in Switzerland

​© 2020 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.The mobility system is undergoing a paradigm shift from fossil fuel-based mobility towards carbon neutrality and greater energy efficiency. Yet this transformation is still in its infancy. In order to reach the CO 2 target defined by the Paris Agreement, an increased use of sharing and electric vehicles is suggested. While many scholars have already investigated the factors relevant for promoting the use of sharing or electric vehicles, less is known about the interplay between experience with carsharing and future car buying decisions. We thus adopted a stated choice survey with 995 participants randomly drawn from the German and French-speaking population of Switzerland to test the drivetrain purchase preferences of users with and without carsharing experience. Results suggest that carsharing users are two times more likely to buy an electric-drive vehicle, i.e. battery electric, plug-in hybrid or hybrid electric vehicle, compared to non-carsharing users, even after controlling for socio-demographics, mobility characteristics, values and pro-environmental attitudes