BEHAVIOUR CHANGE DYNAMICS IN RESPONSE TO REWARDING RUSHHOUR AVOIDANCE: A QUALITATIVE RESEARCH APPROACH

摘要

Spitsmijden (peak avoidance is Dutch) is a new travel demand measure introduced in theNetherlands. It is based on rewarding frequent car commuters for avoiding the rush-hour,using monetary incentives. Although previous quantitative analyses had revealed many of thefactors influencing car users’ responses to rewards, their decision to participate and the orderof magnitude of rush hour travel reduction, several questions remained regarding participantsmotivations to participate and avoid the rush hour, and how their behaviour and motivesdevelop throughout the reward period. Qualitative research methods (semi-structuredinterviews) were applied to tackle these questions. The analysis, involving 12 participants,suggests their motivations and behaviour are not stable and that a process takes place inwhich the rewarding gradually leads to behavioural change. Although the reward is the initialmotivation to enrol and avoid the peak, many participants find travel options that are inthemselves rewarding, leading to intrinsic motivation to sustain their behaviour. Someeventually choose a single new travel option (stabilisers), while others optimise their choiceusing dynamic traffic information (flexibles). Those who do not find attractive alternatives donot develop intrinsic motivation and fall back to their old behaviour when the reward ceases(relapsers). From a methodological point of view, the qualitative method used has significantadded value to quantitative methods applied earlier in the sense that processes can beidentified in which motivational, behavioural and contextual factors interact, leading to richerdescriptions and improved insights into the behavioural adaptation process in response tocongestion management measures.