Masthuggskajen · Evidence tier B
Use construction as the moment car habits can shift
When the district rebuilds, activate travel habits before the car default locks back in.
Outcome
~-9%
incremental less car-days/week vs non-users
A construction-window mobility activation with a clear user vs non-user comparison on self-reported car-days/week, not a street traffic count. Strong enough to cite with caveats for cities and developers facing the next rebuild.
Setting
Gothenburg’s Masthuggskajen transformation. Residents in and around the area were invited to Resvana (Smart Nudges Mobility) while routes and norms were unsettled by construction and redevelopment. City of Gothenburg partnership, fall 2021 to spring 2022.
The challenge
Infrastructure change briefly opens travel habits. Without timed activation, people re-lock into car defaults as soon as the inconvenience passes. The city needed activation during that window, with measurement that separates users from non-users.
What we activated
Mailings and SMS to about 18,837 residents, street posters with QR, and Resvana content designed for smooth sustainable travel in the area. Behavioral tools included timing (window of opportunity), personalization, salience, prompts, social proof, and planning support while the place was still changing.
Behavioral toolkit
- Window of opportunity
- Timing
- Personalization
- Place-based framing
What changed
- 6,476 residents used Resvana of 18,837 invited.
- Resvana users cut average car-days/week by about 14% before→after. Non-users cut about 5% in the same period. The incremental nudge-group effect is about 9 percentage points (often rounded to ~10%).
- That difference equals about 0.18 fewer car-days/week per user vs non-users, or about 1,165 fewer car-days/week among users. Modelled climate effect among users: about 317 t CO₂/year.
Good to know
Survey-based before→after among respondents, with Resvana users compared to non-users (not a randomized control). Sample of verified users in the survey is limited. This is days per week of car use, not cars counted on the street. Pandemic easing also affected modes. Evidence tier B.
Have a district, campus, or site rebuild where travel habits are still open?