Soft measures to increase cycling

With a dedicated policy framework in place, it is much easier to work with a set of smaller “soft” measures, or Mobility Management projects that also are called, in order to increase cycling.

To implement “soft” measures, it is important to keep track of your target groups and the conditions for them in the traffic environment. By following up and evaluating, learning is created throughout the process. To do so you may use the SUMO-model. Below, some smaller Mobility Management activities are described.

About M.M (soft measures)
Mobility management (M.M)is a concept for promoting sustainable transport and influencing car use by changing travelers’ attitudes and behaviors. Fundamental to mobility management are “soft” measures, such as information, communication, organization of services and coordination of activities. Soft measures often improve the effectiveness of “hard” measures, e.g. new tram lines, bicycle parking or cycle paths.

Structure and target group analysis
A structural analysis provides the conditions for different types of traffic such as bicycle infrastructure and public transport. But it can also be access to parking and parking fees, difference in travel time ratio between different types of traffic, etc. A target group analysis provides a current picture of a target group’s travel habits or potential to travel sustainably. A target group analysis is usually limited to a workplace or district. A completed structure and target group analysis provides both conditions and a current situation for a mobility project.

A combination of soft and hard measures gives a better (longterm) effect
In general, information and marketing measures alone have a relatively small effect on travel. The greatest benefit is obtained if a mobility management measure is
implemented in packages with other measures. By combining several measures, both mobility management measures and physical measures, the overall effect can be
strengthened compared to if the measures had been implemented separately. Marketing measures have a greater effect in such conditions where the behaviors you
want to change are facilitated by good physical conditions for e.g. walking and cycling. There are coordination gains by combining measures, but the signals to users are also strengthened when it becomes clear that a clear investment is being made. Evaluation of so-called mobility plans (plans with a combination of measures) has resulted in reductions in car traffic by 10–30%, in some cases over 40%, depending on which measures are included and what conditions have been in place. The greatest change is achieved if financial instruments, improvements in infrastructure and mobility management measures are implemented together.

Evaluate and follow up (SUMO)
Follow-up and evaluation are an important part of initiatives for increased sustainable travel in order to be able to see whether activities and measures have had an
effect and where further efforts need to be made. Ongoing follow-up for specific activities can be done with the help of the tool SUMO (System for evaluation of mobility
projects) developed by Trivector Traffic AB for Swedish Transport Administration.

Target group

A direct target group in SUMO are those who will change their travel behavior. For example, the direct target groups in the Sustainable Business Travel sub-project were the participating companies and the employees at participating workplaces and include the commuting trips they make to and from the workplace as well as the trips carried out in the service. Indirect target group are other groups that are needed to provide conditions for the work, primarily a company management / management group that is used to reach employees, the project steering group and other decision-makers.

Purpose
By measuring, documenting, following up and evaluating the project, knowledge about effects and the connections they have with changed behavior increases. In the long run, this provides significantly expanded opportunities to produce assured effect relationships, which can be used to calculate the expected effects of various measures. To evaluate is to describe and explain why a change has taken place, and to draw conclusions about cause and effect. During a follow-up, data is collected in a systematic way, which describes what has happened and what effect occurred, which is the basis for the evaluation. In the short term, the benefit of evaluation is mainly to show and understand the effects of the individual project. In the longer term, there is a great benefit in gathering experience from a number of evaluations of individual projects in order to obtain a basis for effect relationships.

Examples of measures

Cycle to school campaign
The purpose of the cycle to school campaign is to encourage more children to choose walking and cycling to and from school, promote the health of children and young
people and contribute to a better environment and traffic safety in students’ immediate environments. The campaign is prioritized for school areas where traffic safety
improvements have been made, but all students from preschool to year six in Karlstad have the opportunity to participate. The challenge should be simple and fun to complete. Participation was motivated by prizes that are raffled off among the participants. The project has no specific goal for the number of participants, however, the effect on the challenge is assessed on the basis of the number of car journeys that are judged to be reimbursed in the short term during the challenge but also in the longer term. How the project contributes to reduced emissions and a safer school environment is also important. Evaluation according to SUMO shows that 100 cars per day have been replaced by walking and cycling to school during the campaign. This means less emissions, healthier children and safer miles. A certain part of the effect achieved is expected to be lasting when the campaign is implemented at the same time as physical improvement measures have
been taken at a number of schools.

Karlstads Bike sharing system
The bikes borrowed via the app MOQO is a pilot project that extends to the turn of the year 2022/2023 that tests new combined ways of traveling. The target group for the project is commuters to Karlstad and Arvika municipalities and the purpose is to test whether the combination of traveling by public transport and bicycle in work
commuting is attractive to citizens. In 2019, a feasibility study was conducted in which the municipality and the region’s role bike sharing systems were investigated and which potential target groups there are. The inquiry proposed a stationary system aimed at larger target points for work commuting. There are a total of 10
bicycles at the train station in Karlstad and 5 bicycles in Arvika. The region, which is responsible for public transport, has procured the bicycles and booking systems, the
municipalities are responsible for the operation and maintenance of the bicycles, the bicycle parking and local marketing. The evaluations that have been made have
shown that the system has made it easier for commuting public transport passengers by having the bicycles replace a change with public transport.

The Winter cyklists
Winter cyklists are a project that aims to encourage more people to choose the bike, even during the winter months In the structural and target group analysis for mobility measures that has been carried out, the traffic lane Viken connection and its target points for work commuting have been prioritized for this project. There are good conditions here for both bicycle and public transport in work commuting, despite this, about 50% of the short journeys are made by car and this is where the target group for the Winter cyclists is. 97 regular drivers with a start or finish point in connection with the traffic lane The Viken connection was recruited for this year’s campaign with the aim of cycling to work at least three days a week between December-March. To facilitate winter cycling, each participant has been offered studded tires, tire fitting and bicycle service free of charge. When the participants’ travel habits before participating in the project are compared with estimated travel habits next winter, the project in Viken connection is estimated to replace just over 17,000 car journeys in work commuting, primarily with bicycle journeys. This corresponds to a reduction of about 700 car journeys per week. A majority of the participants have discovered during the project that regardless of whether it is about finances, travel time, health or the environment, cycling wins over the car. Instead of getting used to the car, a change of attitude has taken place to a more flexible way of thinking when it comes to choosing a trip.

Vägbanarna (Road ways) (During start-up)
The purpose of Vägbanarna is to increase the proportion of journeys made in a climate-smart way. The project is looking for regular drivers who travel by car to and from
work at least three days a week. The project is being carried out together with Region Värmland public transport and will run for one year. Start-up is in the autumn of 2022 and the last day to apply to join is 22 May. Storytelling and communication via social media: Every month, the participants meet together with the project leaders to get inspiration, knowledge and to reflect on a theme. Each theme is also linked to a challenge or a task. Participants document progress and difficulties on their Instagram or Facebook account so that others can follow how it goes and be inspired to travel more climatesmart. We want you to live in Karlstad municipality or commute to
Karlstad municipality and be able to participate in a project meeting one evening a month. You should be willing to share “your journey” in photos and text on your open
Instagram account or Facebook on an ongoing basis, to inspire and be a role model for others.

The main target group:
Civil servants and project managers who work with traffic or environmental issues
Secondary target group:
Decision-makers and politicians who need to add resources to Mobility Mangement measures and understand what effects it can have on the traffic environment for human health and the climate.
Secondary target group:
Citizens who participate in the projects.

For more information, please contact: Mikael Haster, (mikael.haster@karlstad.se)