Promoting considerate parking behavior in dockless bike-sharing: An experimental study
TL;DR: In this article, the authors show that behavioral incentives may be an effective tool to address a common issue with this form of transportation and demonstrate that the warning message and monetary incentive shift users' behavior compared with the social norm intervention.
Abstract: Dockless shared bicycles have become a popular mode of transportation for city dwellers in China. Despite its convenience, the dockless feature also creates new challenges, as users often park shared bicycles in a disorderly fashion, which places a burden on both city management and business operations. In a randomized field experiment, subjects receive general information via one of three interventions to improve orderly parking: being informed about the social norm, receiving a warning message, or being offered a monetary incentive. The results suggest that the warning message and monetary incentive shift users’ behavior compared with the social norm intervention. Users who received warning messages were 18.0% more likely to park in an orderly fashion, and users who received a monetary incentive were 25.2% more likely. This study demonstrates that behavioral incentives may be an effective tool to address a common issue with this form of transportation.
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TL;DR: Zhang et al. as discussed by the authors proposed an integrated model and recruited 1722 participants from diverse professions and geographic locations in China, examining the influence of individual and social environmental factors on orderly parking behavior.
Abstract: With the rapid global expansion of dockless shared bicycles, disorderly parking has not only generated convenience to users but also negative consequences to enterprises and urban management. We proposed an integrated model and recruited 1722 participants from diverse professions and geographic locations in China, examining the influence of individual and social environmental factors on orderly parking behavior. It was shown that descriptive social norms played an important role in shaping user’s attitudes toward orderly parking directly and indirectly via personal norms, and thus influence the behavioral intention of orderly parking. Cultural tightness-looseness further moderated the effect of descriptive social norms. At the individual level, antecedents of personal norms (moral awareness, awareness of consequences, and ascription of responsibility) were investigated based on Norm Activation Model. This study indicates that descriptive social norms can act as a complimentary policy and regulations of dockless bike-sharing, which provides valuable insights on urban operation and policy making concerning shared bicycles.
23 citations
TL;DR: Li et al. as discussed by the authors provided a comprehensive analysis of the effects of individual-, household- and city-level characteristics on the use of bike sharing, using nationwide data from China via the China Household Finance Survey.
8 citations
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors developed a modeling framework to analyze the effectiveness of using dynamic incentive schemes for balancing the amount of bikes in the system to minimize the expected operating cost, using an extensive set of numerical experiments.
Abstract: Balancing supply and demand for a dockless bike-sharing system is difficult as users are allowed to pick up and return bikes anywhere within a large service area. One strategy to help manage the amount of dockless bikes scattered within a service area is to offer monetary rewards for users who would be willing to pick up bikes scattered around some central location or to return their bikes at this central location. We develop a modeling framework to analyze the effectiveness of using dynamic incentive schemes for balancing the amount of bikes in the system to minimize the expected operating cost. Using an extensive set of numerical experiments, we illustrate specific operation environments under which these dynamic incentive schemes would be most effective for reducing the operating cost of the system. We find that the use of dynamic pickup and return rewards can generate very substantial cost reductions in an operating environment with a high traffic intensity of bike return outside the central location and a high overall traffic intensity of bike returns relative to bike pickups in the system. We also find that return rewards are generally more cost-effective than pickup rewards.
6 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors evaluate the effect of parking policies, operating strategy changes, and scheduling options on the land consumption of bicycle couriers and sidewalk automated delivery robots (SADRs).
Abstract: Regulating the curbside usage of delivery vehicles and ride-hailing services as well as micromobility has been a challenge in the last years, a challenge which might worsen with the increase of autonomous vehicles. The contribution of the research outlined in this paper is an evaluation method of the land use of on-demand meal delivery services such as Deliveroo and UberEats. It evaluates the effect parking policies, operating strategy changes, and scheduling options have on the land consumption of bicycle couriers and sidewalk automated delivery robots (SADRs). Various operating strategies (i.e., shared fleets and fleets operated by restaurants), parking policies (i.e., parking at the restaurant, parking at the customer or no parking) and scheduling options (i.e., one meal per vehicle, multiple meals per vehicle) are simulated and applied to New York City (NYC). Additionally, the time-area requirements of on-demand meal delivery services are calculated based on GPS traces of Deliveroo and UberEats riders in two UK cities. The simulation in the paper shows that SADRs can reduce the time-area requirements by half compared with bicycle couriers. The effect of operating strategy changes and forbidding vehicles to park at the customer’s home is small. Delivering multiple meals in one tour halves the time-area requirements. The time-area requirements based on GPS traces is around 300 m2·min per order. The study allows policymakers to learn more about the land use of on-demand meal delivery services and how these can be influenced. Hence, they can adjust their policy strategies to ensure that on-demand meal delivery services are provided in a way that they use land effectively, reduce external costs, improve sustainability and benefit everyone.
6 citations
TL;DR: Wang et al. as discussed by the authors examined the usage behavior of free-floating bicycle sharing system (FFBSS) service and identified the key service attributes driving satisfaction levels among Chinese university students.
Abstract: The free-floating bicycle sharing system (FFBSS) service has been becoming an important and popular mode for travel in the urban mobility ecosystem. Although many studies conducted surveys to understand the usage characteristics of FFBSS service for the general population, few studies focus on the usage behavior of university students. A total of 228 valid responses from Huai'yin Institute of Technology (HYIT) were collected to examine the usage behavior of FFBSS service and identify the key service attributes driving satisfaction levels among Chinese university students. Undergraduate and graduate university students are an important and novel population, as they are still forming their values and beliefs, and therefore are more open to engaging in sustainability efforts (e.g., not owning a car or choices towards green travel modes). Descriptive analysis was performed to analyze FFBSS service usage frequency, FFBSS trip characteristics, and the motivation to use FFBSS service. The results show that the socio-demographic information (e.g., age, gender, year of study, and monthly expense) and e-bike/bike ownership significantly influence the usage frequency. Time-saving and convenience are two of the main motivations driving FFBSS service usage. Multivariate regression and importance-performance analysis (IPA) are conducted to identify important FFBSS service attributes impacting user satisfaction levels and identify priority service attributes for improvement. It highlights the importance of the density of the designated location for bike returns, the number of available bicycles, the position accuracy of bicycles, and the good functioning condition of bicycles. The findings provide useful insights into the planning and management of FFBSS services on campus and in cities.
3 citations
References
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TL;DR: This paper examined the effectiveness of signs requesting hotel guests' participation in an environmental conservation program and found that normative appeals were more effective when describing group behavior that occurred in the setting that most closely matched individuals' immediate situational circumstances, referred to as provincial norms.
Abstract: Two field experiments examined the effectiveness of signs requesting hotel guests’ participation in an environmental conservation program. Appeals employing descriptive norms (e.g., “the majority of guests reuse their towels”) proved superior to a traditional appeal widely used by hotels that focused solely on environmental protection. Moreover, normative appeals were most effective when describing group behavior that occurred in the setting that most closely matched individuals’ immediate situational circumstances (e.g., “the majority of guests in this room reuse their towels”), which we refer to as provincial norms. Theoretical and practical implications for managing proenvironmental efforts are discussed.
2,514 citations
TL;DR: This article found that the most influential level of social information is drawn from the 90th to 95th percentile of previous contributions and that social information increases contributions by 12% for new members but not for renewing members.
Abstract: We study the effect of social information on the voluntary provision of public goods. Competing theories predict that others’ contributions might be either substitutes or complements to one's own. We demonstrate a positive social information effect on individual contributions, supporting theories of complementarities. We find the most influential level of social information is drawn from the 90th to 95th percentile of previous contributions. We furthermore find the effect to be significant for new members but not for renewing members. In the most effective condition, social information increases contributions by 12% ($13). These increased contributions do not crowd out future contributions.
717 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present new evidence on the randomization methods used in existing randomized experiments, and carry out simulations in order to provide guidance for researchers, and find that many researchers are not controlling for the method of randomization in their analysis, leading to tests with incorrect size, and can result in lower power than if a pure random draw was used.
Abstract: Randomized experiments are increasingly used in development economics, with researchers now facing the question of not just whether to randomize, but how to do so Pure random assignment guarantees that the treatment and control groups will have identical characteristics on average, but in any particular random allocation, the two groups will differ along some dimensions Methods used to pursue greater balance include stratification, pair-wise matching, and re-randomization This paper presents new evidence on the randomization methods used in existing randomized experiments, and carries out simulations in order to provide guidance for researchers Three main results emerge First, many researchers are not controlling for the method of randomization in their analysis The authors show this leads to tests with incorrect size, and can result in lower power than if a pure random draw was used Second, they find that in samples of 300 or more, the different randomization methods perform similarly in terms of achieving balance on many future outcomes of interest However, for very persistent outcome variables and in smaller sample sizes, pair-wise matching and stratification perform best Third, the analysis suggests that on balance the re-randomization methods common in practice are less desirable than other methods, such as matching
712 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated whether a temporary structural change would induce a lasting increase in drivers' public transport use, and found that attitudes toward bus were more positive and the frequency of bus use increased, whereas the habits of using automobile decreased from before the intervention, even one month after the intervention period.
Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate whether a temporary structural change would induce a lasting increase in drivers' public transport use. An experiment targeting 43 drivers was carried out, in which a one-month free bus ticket was given to 23 drivers in an experimental group but not to 20 drivers in a control group. Attitudes toward, habits of, and frequency of using automobile and bus were measured immediately before, immediately after, and one month after the one-month long intervention. The results showed that attitudes toward bus were more positive and that the frequency of bus use increased, whereas the habits of using automobile decreased from before the intervention, even one month after the intervention period. Furthermore, the increase in habitual bus use had the largest effect on the increase in the frequency of bus use. The results suggest that a temporary structural change, such as offering auto drivers a temporary free bus ticket, may be an important travel demand management tool for converting automotive travel demand to public-transport travel demand.
464 citations
TL;DR: A brief introduction to the idea of "nudging" along with a list of 10 of the most important "nudges" can be found in this paper, and a short discussion of the question whether to create some kind of separate "behavioral insights unit, capable of conducting its own research, or instead to rely on existing institutions.
Abstract: This brief essay offers a general introduction to the idea of nudging, along with a list of 10 of the most important “nudges.” It also provides a short discussion of the question whether to create some kind of separate “behavioral insights unit,” capable of conducting its own research, or instead to rely on existing institutions.
324 citations