Long term evaluation of individualized marketing programs for travel demand management

With increasing concerns over traffic congestion, fossil fuel use, air pollution, and livability, coupled with severe constraints on funding for new transportation infrastructure, cities and regions are increasingly looking to a wider range of options to address transportation problems. Transportation demand management (TDM) is one of those options used over the past 30+ years with varying success. Historically in the U.S., programs have focused on commute trips and employers or broad-based awareness campaigns. More recently, the concepts of social and individualized marketing are being applied to TDM at the household level and for all types of trips. Proponents believe that…

With increasing concerns over traffic congestion, fossil fuel use, air pollution, and livability, coupled with severe constraints on funding for new transportation infrastructure, cities and regions are increasingly looking to a wider range of options to address transportation problems. Transportation demand management (TDM) is one of those options used over the past 30+ years with varying success. Historically in the U.S., programs have focused on commute trips and employers or broad-based awareness campaigns. More recently, the concepts of social and individualized marketing are being applied to TDM at the household level and for all types of trips. Proponents believe that these programs are more effective. Some of the new programs are based on theories of behavior developed in the field of psychology, rather than the traditional economic theories that provide the foundation for most travel behavior models. One such model is the theory of planned behavior (TPB) that considers behavior as a function of the person’s attitudes, social norms and perceived behavioral control. The TPB allows for the estimation of relative contributions of each predictive factor, which provides marketing programs guidance in directing their program efforts.

Starting in 2003, the City of Portland has undertaken a series of household-based, individualized marketing programs aimed at reducing drive alone trips. The programs are based on the TravelSmart© concept, originated by Socialdata, a German-based company. TravelSmart has been used extensively in Australia, where it has been shown to significantly reduce drive alone trips by employing in-depth surveying and targeted marketing. The TravelSmart concept was first tested in the U.S. in 2003 in the Hillsdale neighborhood of Portland. Those results were positive, and the City implemented TravelSmart the next year along the Interstate corridor. The following year the City developed its own program, SmartTrips, based on the TravelSmart concept. SmartTrips programs targeted Eastside Portland in 2005 and Northeast Portland in 2006 and will occur in Southeast Portland and Milwaukee this year and Southwest Portland in 2008.  Residents in the targeted neighborhoods receive personalized information from the City about different travel options (walking, cycling, transit, and car sharing) and can participate in guided walks, rides, and other events. The program is based on the strategy of showing people how to use alternative modes and rewarding them for doing so.

With all of these programs, the City conducted pre- and post-surveys of a random sample of neighborhood residents. The post-surveys are conducted immediately following the project. The surveys collect data about all of the trips a person made that day. All of the programs to date have shown a reduction in the share of trips made driving alone and an increase in the share of trips made by walking and bicycling.  For the Northeast project, the City also surveyed residents of a control neighborhood.

This research project has two specific aims: (1) to evaluate whether the benefits of these individualized marketing programs continue to at least one year after the project ends; and (2) to examine whether the theory of planned behavior can help explain the behavior changes identified. To do so, we will conduct additional follow-up surveys of randomly-selected residents and program participants, examine secondary sources of data, and expand planned surveys.