Helsingborg, Sweden, wanted to encourage active and secure school mobility by creating a school-focused version an existing digital platform and using behavioural science and nudging techniques. As part of the EU-funded RAPTOR (Rapid Applications for Transport) project in 2023, Helsingborg, Sweden conducted a pilot with a digital platform called: NUDGD tool.
Despite substantial investments in infrastructure and mobility management, not to mention the climate crisis and high fuel costs, the people of Helsingborg were not travelling by bicycle to the same extent than those in similar sized cities or across the region (Skåne) as shown below:
Nudgd was used to increase cycling rates using its Smart Nudges platform. The digital platform targeted parents, children, and school staff, offering personalised interventions and soft incentives. For example, through a combination of smart tips, interactive maps, and quizzes, they were gently ‘nudged’ – or given subtle guidance – to engage their interest in and show off the benefits of active commuting.
Results
The pilot was ground-breaking, marking the first time a digital nudging platform has been used on such a grand scale to influence school mobility. The project included all primary schools in Helsingborg, encompassing 18,000 pupils along with more than 1,000 staff.
Overall, 25 schools participated, reaching parents of 8,850 pupils and 980 staff members. 850 parents and staff used the platform, answered the survey and were identified as unique users.
At the end of the pilot, almost 40% stated that they already have changed to, or plan to change to, more sustainable mobility behaviours for school mobility. This exceeded the target of 30%.
The project won the European Mobility Action Award in 2023.
What were the key drivers supporting the implementation?
- Political: Considering the significant investments in infrastructure, namely dedicated bike lanes and bike parking facilities, as well as different promotion campaigns by the city, the city wanted to understand the behaviour of citizens and be able to develop a bicycle culture in Helsingborg, as well as ways to better define and measure it.
- Modularity/adaptability of the solution: Possible presented solutions can be applicable for standard bikes, e-bikes and/or cargo bikes, which are popular in Helsingborg.
- Digital culture: People engage with digital solutions when these are simple to follow and offer clear results.
And what were the challenges and barriers?
- Political: Behavioural change can be politically sensitive, especially as it can mean targeting car users. Local political backing is a key factor in making long-term changes to modal share, otherwise you risk your cycling campaigns only attracting those who already walk or use public transport. To really reduce the number of private, individual cars on the streets, nudging campaigns can support wider policy changes to disincentivise cars e.g parking policies, urban vehicle access regulations, and traffic management towards sustainable mobility.
- Lack of knowledge/data to interpret the situation: The City of Helsingborg lacked knowledge of possible incentives for and barriers against increased cycling. In other words, what stops families with children from commuting by bicycle and children from cycling to school? What limits recreational cycling in Helsingborg? While the city has access to real-time traffic flow data, data for cycling is only collected from around ten different spots in the city. The goal is to increase the places where cycling is measured.
- Stakeholder habits: The traffic environment around schools, which is often perceived as unsafe for children, can be an obstacle. It becomes a vicious cycle when parents do not want their children to walk or cycle due to the high volume of cars, so they drive their children to school. The purpose of the pilot was to increase safety around the schools by reducing car traffic, and at the same time, activate students by encouraging parents and staff to choose to cycle or walk instead of taking the car.
- Short timeline: The pilot only lasted six weeks, which is not a substantial amount of time to really change habits, and therefore an extension to the project could have led to higher success rate in users changing their behaviour. Also, the pilot took place during autumn when the weather isn’t ideal for active mobility. Projects like this should aim to trial in summer months when people are likely to spend time outside and therefore more willing to adopt the measures. Do not underestimate the time for outreach, onboarding, and communications. In the case of Helsingborg, they required the heads of each school to agree to the pilot and share news in their newsletters to reach parents and staff.
Potential for replication and scale up
- Use a tool or methodology which can be easily replicated in different contexts: Digital nudging solutions make it easy to nudge employees, residents, customers, and others in the right direction. Digital solutions enable automated and cost-efficient nudges, measurable results, and direct contact with the target group through their phones.
- Widen geographical scope but with targeted communications: This was a pilot with a key target audience and timeline, but a platform like the one proposed by NUDGD can be upscaled for an entire city. However, targeted communications are necessary to reach different types of users. For example, Helsingborg also conducted a similar pilot with commuters who drove to work, to take their bike instead. Rather than using educational quizzes, the commuters were incentivised with bike lights and funding for bike maintenance.
- Partner with businesses: There is so much to explore and test with such a digital platform, for example, to understand how different users react to different incentives, as well as building partnerships with local businesses to offer deals and discounts for points gained by cycling.
- Test with new stakeholders: A clear opportunity to target certain users is with people recently moving to a city. As they are more likely to adopt new habits in their new environment, city administrations can adopt targeted initiatives.