Nudging Towards Sustainable Public Transportation

Introduction

The increasing population in urban areas is causing modern problems and is affecting the quality of individuals' life. It is notable to mention that more than half of the world’s population live in cities and the share of people living in urban environments is constantly rising. It is expected that up to 68% of the world’s population will leave in urban areas by 2050 (“68% of the world,” 2018). Many places are already facing problems and challenges arising from quick urbanization and ageing infrastructure that are hardly able to handle these issues. Existing procedures in cities have been ineffective in many areas. However, with the recent progress and the potential of digital technologies and relevant communication opportunities, cities are increasingly becoming smarter. The idea of a smart city or community as a way to improve an individual’s quality of life is gaining the attention of policymakers, academic researchers and other relevant stakeholders.

Together with population growth also technological advancement is increasing and offering a way to cope with modern solutions. The diffusion of information technology is now noticeable everywhere, not only in organizations but also considering individuals and society. Digitalization is bringing new opportunities for cities and communities; however, the progress and new development must be considering sustainability issues as well. Namely, to ensure that the resources are well-maintained and well-kept-up (Nagode & Manfreda, 2022). After all, proper economic growth and respectable quality of life for individuals should be considered as well. Due to the anticipated growth of urban areas, it is important to simultaneously take care of the social, economic and environmental sustainability use of resources. Decision-makers in several cities are trying to implement different technologies into various aspects of their cities’ operations. This includes public transport, urban mobility, solid waste management, water and power supply, citizen participation and many others.

However, similarly, as organizations need to change their way of operating in order to digitally transform or become more sustainability-oriented, the same applies to individuals. With respect to changing citizens’ behaviors, the role that institutions have on individuals should not be neglected. Local government has an especially particular role as it is the institution geographically closest to citizens and has the authority to influence the local environment, services and civic infrastructure related to civil society (Cotterill & Richardson, 2009). However, human behavior can be modified by restructuring the flow of information and incentives, or through education (Ekins, 2004). Behavior change of individuals in urban areas and outside them needs should be considered as an important and well-thoughtful element for achieving defined sustainability goals.

Digital technologies may be used to promote sustainable mobility behaviors of the citizens (Kazhamiakin et al., 2016). The use of persuasive technologies offering data analytics and visualization can be used to inform and make the users aware of the consequences of their behavior. Lately the way of notifying people about their behavior through displays and applications has been proven to raise awareness and affect their behavior (Petersen et al., 2020). Digital technology can also engage with diverse stakeholders and increase knowledge among individuals, foster changes in public policy and behavioral change (Rajanen & Rajanen, 2019), and encourage citizens towards changing their behaviors to be more in line with the sustainable future of the whole society (Caroleo et al., 2019). That includes encouraging the use of public transportation, multimodal transport and offering micro-mobility solutions are the most user-oriented opportunities.