Changing Traffic Patterns Starts with Changing Driver Patterns
The ability to understand and influence commuter behavior is one of the greatest challenges in transportation management. Motivations for driving alone during peak traffic are as plentiful and diverse as the cars on the road, which is why there is no one silver bullet which addresses all drivers’ needs. Through Metropia’s AI-powered behavior change platform, however, your agency can selectively target the right audience with the right message at the right time to efficiently shift behavior in support of your operational goals. For the first time, your agency can harness live operational data to trigger these campaigns, dynamically responding to alleviate trending network patterns.
The Right Audience
For many operational goals, such as reducing peak traffic congestion along a particular corridor, there are an array of potential commuter actions which can contribute to a successful outcome. Whereas one commuter might be inclined to carpool, another might have greater flexibility in what time they arrive at their destination. The key to motivating behavior change is to first understand a commuter’s needs, goals and objectives. By compiling traveler activity patterns, in-app survey responses, and observing the user’s response to in-app prompts, Metropia learns critical user demographics, needs, and motivations and leverages that complex information to help you determine the optimal audience for your campaign.
The Right Message
Taking the bus, sharing a ride with a neighbor, leaving a little earlier than normal -- if the clear advantages of these options were as clear as assumed, commuters would already be utilizing them. The truth is that few commuters are ready to toss their keys and dive into the deep end of alternative commutes. For this reason, Metropia works directly with your agency to employ a graduated strategy which begins with presenting strong selling-points to the user: ”Taking transit will eliminate your parking costs!”, “Use transit’s free wi-fi and check off some to-dos on the way to the office!”, “Did you know you could pay for your ride directly through your smartphone?” These in-app messages are used selectively and serve to inform the user as well as raise the appeal of alternative modes. After the messages have been delivered and the user is appropriately primed for a shift in behavior, our app displays a tailored, timely suggestion proposing a new mode or departure time with a “Try It” option.
The Right Time
Timing, as they say, is everything. Your agency benefits from Metropia’s wealth of experience and experiments, through which we’ve dialed in the most effective strategies to message our users, and tailor that engagement to their own individual schedules.
The Right Nudge
For some travellers, information alone, no matter how persuasive, will never be enough to get them to hang up their keys. For those individuals, the proper leveraging of incentives and rewards can be the impetus toward lasting behavioral change. Metropia’s behavior management platform, INDUCE, can be layered on top of any campaign to increase carpooling activity, survey responses, mode selection, travel time shifts, and more. Through artificial intelligence, Metropia can identify and target only the optimal candidates for incentives with the minimal incentive levels needed to encourage activity. This intelligent application of incentives saves your agency a great deal of effort and significant funds while delivering maximum impact in achieving its goals.
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