Campaigns and awareness-raising strategies on sustainable urban mobility

Abstract

The increasing demand for urban mobility in modern cities leads to traffic congestion and other environmental and societal impacts, requiring a shift to more sustainable mobility behavior. However, travelers are not well informed about the possible sustainable modes and their advantages, as traffic education is often limited to learning traffic rules. To raise awareness on sustainability, various techniques may be used, such as designated educational programs, training sessions, seminars and campaigns. Acknowledging the spread and popularity of social media, the aim of the paper is to investigate how a shift in behavior towards more sustainable modes of transportation may be affected by a digital campaign. The coherent production of a successful sustainable urban mobility campaign is a complex task and requires a thorough understanding of the general needs of those affected. Firstly, the paper reviews and analyses previous campaigns and strategies related to sustainable urban mobility implemented in European countries. Analysis includes the organization, which was responsible for initiating the campaign, the time period, theme, scope, target group and type of approach. In those cases, that evaluation of the campaign was conducted, impacts on attitudes and behavior are also identified and the success attributes of the campaigns are selected. In the context of further research, an on-line questionnaire survey was carried out for the identification of travelers’ preferences and attitudes towards innovative strategies that raise awareness in sustainable urban mobility, promoted and supported by social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.). © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019.