NUDGE: IMPROVING DECISIONS ABOUT HEALTH, WEALTH, AND HAPPINESS by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein Penguin Books, 2009, 312 pp, ISBN 978-0-14-311526-7This book is best described formally as a general explanation of and advocacy for libertarian paternalism, a term coined by the authors in earlier publications. Informally, it is about how leaders, systems, organizations, and governments can nudge people to do the things the nudgers want and need done for the betterment of the nudgees, or of society. It is paternalism in the sense that "it is legitimate for choice architects to try to influence people's behavior in order to make their lives longer, healthier, and better", (p. 5) It is libertarian in that "people should be free to do what they like - and to opt out of undesirable arrangements if they want to do so", (p. 5) The built-in possibility of opting out or making a different choice preserves freedom of choice even though people's behavior has been influenced by the nature of the presentation of the information or by the structure of the decisionmaking system. I had never heard of libertarian paternalism before reading this book, and I now find it fascinating.Written for a general audience, this book contains mostly social and behavioral science theory and models, but there is considerable discussion of structure and process that has roots in mathematical and quantitative modeling. One of the main applications of this social system is economic choice in investing, selecting and purchasing products and services, systems of taxes, banking (mortgages, borrowing, savings), and retirement systems. Other quantitative social choice systems discussed include environmental effects, health care plans, gambling, and organ donations. Softer issues that are also subject to a nudge-based approach are marriage, education, eating, drinking, smoking, influence, spread of information, and politics. There is something in this book for everyone.The basis for this libertarian paternalism concept is in the social theory called "science of choice", the study of the design and implementation of influence systems on various kinds of people. The terms Econs and Humans, are used to refer to people with either considerable or little rational decision-making talent, respectively. The various libertarian paternalism concepts and systems presented are tested and compared in light of these two types of people. Two foundational issues that this book has in common with another book, Network of Echoes: Imitation, Innovation and Invisible Leaders, that was also reviewed for this issue of the Journal are that 1 ) there are two modes of thinking (or components of the brain) - an automatic (intuitive) process and a reflective (rational) process and 2) the need for conformity and the desire for imitation are powerful forces in human behavior. …

Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness

Traditional engineering instruction is deductive, beginning with theories and progressing to the applications of those theories Alternative teaching approaches are more inductive Topics are introduced by presenting specific observations, case studies or problems, and theories are taught or the students are helped to discover them only after the need to know them has been established This study reviews several of the most commonly used inductive teaching methods, including inquiry learning, problem-based learning, project-based learning, case-based teaching, discovery learning, and just-in-time teaching The paper defines each method, highlights commonalities and specific differences, and reviews research on the effectiveness of the methods While the strength of the evidence varies from one method to another, inductive methods are consistently found to be at least equal to, and in general more effective than, traditional deductive methods for achieving a broad range of learning outcomes

Inductive Teaching and Learning Methods: Definitions, Comparisons, and Research Bases

Knowledge partitioning in the inter-firm division of labor : the case of automotive product development

A smarter transport system that caters for social, economic and environmental sustainability is arguably one of the most critical prerequisites for creating pathways to more livable urban futures. This paper aims to provide a state-of-the-art analysis of a selection of mobility initiatives that may dictate the future of urban transportation and make cities smarter. These are mechanisms either recently introduced with encouraging uptake so far and much greater potential to contribute in a shift to a better transport paradigm or still in an embryonic stage of their development and yet to be embraced as powerful mechanisms that could change travel behaviour norms. Autonomous and connected vehicles are set to revolutionise the urban landscape by allowing machines to take over driving that for over a century has been exclusively a human activity, while electrical vehicles are already helping decarbonising the transport sector. Bus rapid transit has been steadily reinventing and rebranding conventional bus services revitalising the use of the humblest form of public transport, while hyperloop is an entirely new, disruptive, and somewhat provocative, travel mode proposition based on the use of sealed tube systems through which pods could travel free of air resistance with speeds exceeding 1000 km/h. Shared use mobility mechanisms like car-sharing, ride-sharing, ride-sourcing and public bicycles can help establishing a culture for using mobility resources on an as-needed basis, while mobility-as-a-service will take this sharing culture a step further, offering tailored mobility and trip planning packages that could entirely replace the need for privately owned modes of transport.

https://www.mdpi.com/2413-8851/1/4/36/pdf

How Can Autonomous and Connected Vehicles, Electromobility, BRT, Hyperloop, Shared Use Mobility and Mobility-As-A-Service Shape Transport Futures for the Context of Smart Cities?

Widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) would significantly increase the overall electrical load demand in power distribution networks. Hence, there is a need for comprehensive planning of charging infrastructure in order to prevent power failures or scenarios where there is a considerable demand–supply mismatch. Accurately predicting the realistic charging demand of EVs is an essential part of the infrastructure planning. Charging demand of EVs is influenced by several factors, such as driver behavior, location of charging stations, electricity pricing, etc. In order to implement an optimal charging infrastructure, it is important to consider all the relevant factors that influence the charging demand of EVs. Several studies have modeled and simulated the charging demands of individual and groups of EVs. However, in many cases, the models do not consider factors related to the social characteristics of EV drivers. Other studies do not emphasize on economic elements. This paper aims at evaluating the effects of the above factors on EV charging demand using a simulation model. An agent-based approach using NetLogo is employed in this paper to closely mimic the human aggregate behavior and its influence on the load demand due to charging of EVs.

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Agent-Based Aggregated Behavior Modeling for Electric Vehicle Charging Load

Bike sharing is one of the most promising urban planning interventions to facilitate an all-necessary transition towards a more sustainable transport paradigm. Regardless of the fact that hundreds of schemes run in more than 50 countries worldwide, bike sharing is still moderately investigated by research. This paper reports on a primarily quantitative study of 558 responses that was set to frame attitudes reflecting public acceptance towards the rapidly expanding bike-sharing scheme in Gothenburg (Styr & Stall), in an attempt to identify the ‘formula for success’. The respondents generally believed that Styr & Stall is a pro-environmental, inexpensive and healthy transport mode, which complements the city’s public transport services and promotes a more human-friendly identity for Gothenburg. Even the respondents that self-reported a small (or no) likelihood to use bike sharing were positive towards the scheme. This means that they recognise that bike sharing has a significant pro-social potential and is not a system favouring a particular road-user segment over others that might not be interested or able to use it. The fact that the majority of the respondents do not use the scheme and yet its popularity is still vast indicates that there is much potential for more use in real terms.

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The paradox of public acceptance of bike sharing in Gothenburg

The transportation of goods and people is at the heart of the industrial society. Yet transportation relies heavily upon oil – a scarce fossil fuel that contributes to climate change and local air pollution. The term ‘electromobility’ refers to an alternative transportation system based on vehicles propelled by electricity. Electromobility is increasingly seen as favourable in that it could circumvent problems related to both oil and biofuels whilst meeting our mobility needs and desires. 
However, the virtue of electromobility is not uncontested and a range of questions demand an answer: if electric vehicles are energy efficient; if they are safe; how environmental friendly they are; if metal resource scarcity will limit their use; to what extent driving patterns shape or are shaped by new types of vehicles; if electromobility is suitable only for cars and not for heavy vehicles, or vice versa; and what type of new business models and governmental policy support that is required to stimulate demand for electric vehicles.


There is not one final answer to questions like these. However, studying electromobility from different systems perspectives can help to resolve such complex issues. The seventeen chapters of Systems Perspectives on Electromobility 2017 address different topics related to the immensely important issue of whether – and to what extent – our transport systems can and should be energised by electricity.

Systems Perspectives on Electromobility

This thesis concerns centred product development and more specifically how methodological choices in user requirements elicitation can enable the users to communicate their requirements to the product developers. During the development process choices have to be made concerning what methodology to use for eliciting user requirements. These choices include the choice of data collection method, the choice of participants, the choice of mediating object, and the choice of context. In order to explore how different methodological choices can work as enabler in user requirements elicitation two case studies, three comparative studies, and a survey have been carried out. The results show that all four methodological choices influence user requirements elicitation in terms of their enabling effect. Product use experience and to what extent the method could provide the users with product use experience seem to be the most important factor to enable the users. An important finding was that enabling the user also includes enabling the designer to understand the user and the use situation in order for the designer to interpret the users' requirements. A conscious choice of methods can be used as a common tool enabling the user as well as the designer.

Enabling the user - Exploring methodological effects on user requirements elicitation

Although at the moment an excess of 500 public bicycle schemes of variable sizes operate in almost 50 countries worldwide, the impact of their use on travel behaviour and modal change have neither been studied extensively nor have been understood thoroughly as yet. This work negotiates the initial stages of an international research scheme that means to look into the attitudes and system user experiences (the latter only when it is applicable) that could define the design (or re-design) criteria for three public bicycle schemes in three cities of different size and culture. These systems are currently on three dissimilar operational phases spanning from bidding for funding to actually having a fairly successful system already in place. As a matter of fact, the choice of the three case study cities represent an effort to frame the dynamics of the bike-sharing phenomenon in a micro-scale (Drama, Greece, 50.000 residents), meso-scale (Gothenburg, Sweden, 500.000 residents) and mega-scale (Shanghai, China, 23 million residents) looking also into the attitude-shaping process before and after the implementation of a scheme. This project’s didactic role is a twin one; it aims to reinforce education practice on sustainable mobilities design by using student projects as an apparatus for supporting research and promoting urban change in real societal terms and subsequently to integrate the findings of the research into future postgraduate and undergraduate course material. Thus, bike-sharing design, for the means of this paper, aims to serve as an academic platform for integrating and synchronising research and education by promoting a balanced and timely development of technological opportunities that capture the mobility needs of tomorrow.

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Pontus Wallgren

Papers

The paradox of public acceptance of bike sharing in Gothenburg

Systems Perspectives on Electromobility

Enabling the user - Exploring methodological effects on user requirements elicitation

Public Bicycles: How the Concept of Human-Oriented “Mobility Sharing” Technology Can Influence Travel Behaviour Norms and Reshape Design Education

A field evaluation of real-time information at tram and bus stops. Part 1. Intermediate report No 3 to the Quartet Plus project.