Promoting Sustainable Transportation Modes: A Systematic Review of Behavior-Change Strategies
Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Date
2025
Subject Area
literature review - literature review, planning - methods, planning - travel demand management, policy - sustainable, ridership - behaviour, ridership - mode choice
Keywords
behavioral intervention, behavioral science, transportation mode shift, systematic review, bias, motivation, socio-psychological theories
Abstract
In previous studies, many travel-behavior-change strategies often relied on single behavior determinants or psychological theories, overlooking the incorporation of sociopsychological theories for guidance in their design. Integrating these theories could offer consistent guidance for program developers and enhance intervention effectiveness. This paper systematically reviews interventions targeting travel-behavior change, with a focus on self-determination theory and its principles of satisfying individuals’ competence, autonomy, and relatedness needs for enacting change. Additionally, experiment design methods, including randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental designs, are reviewed and discussed. Key findings highlight the effectiveness of personalized interventions and integrating feedback with goal-setting strategies. Given the limited direct references to sociopsychological theories in existing studies, we explore relevant sociopsychological theories applicable to travel-behavior-change programs to provide examples of how strategies could be designed based on them. This review contributes valuable insights into the development of strategies for changing travel behavior, offering a theoretical framework for researchers and practitioners to guide intervention design, experimentation, and evaluation. Leveraging these theories not only facilitates reproducibility but also provides a standardized approach for transportation demand management program developers.
Rights
Permission to publish the abstract has been given by SAGE, copyright remains with them.
Recommended Citation
Pan, M., & Ryan, A. (2025). Promoting Sustainable Transportation Modes: A Systematic Review of Behavior-Change Strategies. Transportation Research Record, 2679(2), 1993-2012.
