Getting the timing right: using 'moments of change' to promote sustainable travel behaviour

应对气候变化需要深刻的行为改变，包括在交通领域。事实上，减少汽车的使用是个人可以做出的最有效的缓解行为改变之一。然而，旅行行为是最难改变的。这在一定程度上是因为它们是强烈的习惯性行为——由情境线索（例如，“早上8点，该开车去上班了”）触发的无意识例行程序，而不是有意识地考虑各种选择（例如，“今天哪种交通方式最好？”）的产物。但是，由于习惯是由稳定的环境引起的，环境的变化会破坏习惯。与此相一致的是，研究表明，干扰——无论是涉及一个人的生命历程（如搬家）还是物理或社会环境（如基础设施中断）——都提供了在新的方向上重塑行为的机会。因此，针对变革时刻的干预措施比其他时候更有效。虽然很多研究都探索了人生事件中的这些“机会之窗”，比如搬家、退休或成为父母，但对更广泛的社会混乱（比如城市环境的变化）如何引发积极的行为改变却知之甚少。因此，这项博士研究将探讨物理基础设施中断（例如，道路封闭，宜居社区）可能对模式转变和旅行需求的影响。此外，该项目将评估在这种交通中断期间实施的促进积极出行和公共交通的干预措施（例如财政奖励）的有效性。与各种工业伙伴合作，包括威尔士运输局和北萨默塞特议会，将进行一系列三项研究，评估旅行基础设施中断对旅行行为和需求的影响。第一项研究将调查道路使用者如何应对不同类型的道路中断（例如，不同的规模），目的是衡量一个事件必须具有多大的破坏性才能引起态度或行为改变的临界点。为此，将进行混合方法调查，要求道路使用者报告他们将如何调整他们的旅行行为以适应不同的破坏性情景。第二个实证研究将涉及评估和比较现实生活中的道路使用者行为，以应对几个案例研究中的道路中断。为此，混合方法调查将监测道路使用者的心理（如习惯、态度、价值观）、结构（如物理基础设施的经验）和社会人口因素如何影响他们对道路中断的反应。第一和第二项研究的参与者将通过付费招聘平台（例如，多产）和社交媒体平台以及行业合作伙伴的客户小组的组合来招募。工业合作伙伴收集的匿名旅行数据也将用作行为变化的客观衡量标准。最后，第三项研究将旨在捕捉交通规划者和供应商的观点，即如何看待和准备基础设施中断，以及是否以及如何促进积极的行为改变。为此，我们将与主要合作伙伴组织中参与旅行计划/决策的人员进行几次半结构化访谈。其中将包括已经参与该项目的合作伙伴代表，并将通过口口相传的方式招募更多的参与者。

Addressing climate change requires profound behavioural changes, including within transport. Indeed, reducing car use is one of the most impactful mitigation behaviour changes that individuals can make. Yet, travel behaviours are amongst the most difficult to change. This is partly because they are strongly habitual - unconscious routines triggered by contextual cues (e.g., 'it's 8am, time to drive to work') rather than the product of conscious deliberation of alternatives (e.g., 'which mode of transport would be best today?'). But since habits are cued by stable contexts, changes in context destabilise habits. Consistent with this, research shows that disruptions - whether concerning a person's life-course (e.g. moving home) or physical or social context (e.g. infrastructure disruption) - provide opportunities to reshape behaviours in new directions. Interventions targeted to moments of change are thus more effective than at other times. While much research has explored these 'windows of opportunity' during biographical life events, such as moving home, retiring, or becoming a parent, less is understood about how wider societal disruptions (e.g., changes to urban environments) might provoke positive behaviour change. This PhD research will thus explore the impact that physical infrastructure disruptions (e.g., road closures, liveable neighbourhoods) might have on modal shift and travel demand. Further, the project will evaluate the effectiveness of interventions (e.g., financial incentives) promoting active travel and public transport that are implemented during such disruptions. Working with a variety of industrial partners, including Transport for Wales and North Somerset Council, a series of three studies will be conducted which evaluate the impact of travel infrastructure disruptions on travel behaviour and demand. The first study will investigate how road users respond to different types of road disruptions (e.g., varying in scale) with the aim of gauging the tipping points for how disruptive an event must be to provoke attitudinal or behaviour change. To do this, mixed methods surveys will be conducted asking road users to report how they would adapt their travel behaviour to different disruptive scenarios. The second empirical study will involve evaluating and comparing real-life road user behaviour in response to road disruptions across several case studies. To do this, mixed methods surveys will monitor how road users' psychological (e.g., habits, attitudes, values), structural (e.g., experience of physical infrastructure), and sociodemographic factors influence their responses to road disruptions. Participants for both the first and second study will be recruited through a combination of paid recruitment platforms (e.g., Prolific) and social media platforms and customer panels of the industrial partners. Anonymous travel data collected by the industrial partners will also be used as objective measures of behaviour change.Finally, a third study will aim to capture the perspective of transport planners and providers on how infrastructure disruptions are viewed and prepared for, and if and how positive behaviour change is promoted. To do this, several semi-structured interviews will be conducted with those involved in travel planning/decision-making within the key partner organisations. These will include the partner representatives already involved in the project and further participants will be recruited through word-of-mouth.