Increase Occupancy Rate in Passenger Cars – Potentials of Awareness Raising for Carpooling

Abstract

Transport is responsible for 30% of Austria's CO2 emissions. Of these, 17.13% are caused by passenger cars. Car traffic (kilometres driven) has increased significantly in recent years, while at the same time, the occupancy rate is continuously decreasing and is currently only 1.15 persons per car in Austria. Due to the traffic load and the associated negative environmental impacts, there is a great need to increase the occupancy rate in passenger cars. The shared mobility concept of carpooling offers starting points to counteract this trend. In this context, carpooling in particular shows great potential for reducing the volume of traffic. Carpooling reduces emissions and lowers the risk of accidents, and an improvement of occupancy rate of cars can reduce traffic by up to 10%. However, the "critical mass" of carpooling platforms is often not reached and there is a lack of adequate advertising and communication measures. Traditional advertising channels such as print rarely reach the entire target group in the shared mobility sector and digital advertising channels miss internet-averse target groups who hardly use social media. This article is therefore dedicated to the evaluation of an advertising campaign that aims to increase awareness and acceptance of the accelerated use and market penetration of carpooling offers. By means of a digital display placed at the side of the road, attention was drawn to the degree of occupancy by means of various statements - with the aim of triggering a rethink in the direction of carpooling. Based on a preliminary survey, the perception and acceptance were surveyed using feedback from passers-by and app users. The main finding is that many car drivers noticed the display and rated it as positive. Ultimately, however, only a small number of people could be motivated to use carpooling or to give other people a ride. The main barriers to use carpooling are the lack of schedule flexibility, reliability of passengers and loss of time