Micro‑Incentives for Sustainable Mobility

R&I activity description
Factual Consulting conducted two large‑scale stated‑preference surveys between September 2022 and July 2024 to quantify how targeted micro‑incentives can modify travel behaviour in five European cities.

1. Car‑users → Incentivised Multimodal Trips – 14 scenarios combined varying travel‑time savings, alternative modes (public transport, shared‑mobility, ride‑hailing) and a discounted fare. Respondents chose either to retain their car trip at a higher cost or to accept a multimodal itinerary with a lower, incentive‑adjusted price.
2. Peak‑time PT users → Off‑Peak Trips – Scenarios asked whether travellers would shift 10‑30 minutes earlier or later for a reduced fare versus staying in the crowded peak window at the standard price.

The surveys generated city‑specific willingness‑to‑pay thresholds, revealing the discount levels needed to achieve a 50 % probability of modal shift.

Key learnings

• Cost sensitivity drives car‑user conversion. Across the sample, a discount of ≤ 50 % combined with a time saving of ≥ 10 minutes was enough to persuade car users to switch to multimodal trips. Oslo showed the strongest response (50 % discount sufficient), while Barcelona and Madrid required smaller discounts as the time advantage grew, highlighting the importance of coupling cost reductions with clear time benefits.
• Temporal flexibility is limited. To convince peak‑hour public‑transport users to travel off‑peak, steep discounts of 60 %–85 % were necessary, indicating that price incentives alone are insufficient for time‑constrained commuters. Complementary measures (capacity upgrades, crowd‑management) are needed.
• Local calibration matters. Discount thresholds differed markedly between Northern and Southern European cities, underscoring the need for city‑specific incentive designs rather than a one‑size‑fits‑all approach.
• Micro‑incentives are a viable policy lever when embedded in dynamic MaaS platforms that can deliver real‑time pricing, enabling authorities to steer demand efficiently while supporting sustainability goals.