A national-scale mobility pricing experiment using GPS tracking and online surveys in Switzerland: Response rates and survey method results

Abstract

This article presents the first results and observations from the MOBIS Study, a nation-wide mobility pricing field experiment in Switzerland. Mobility pricing is widely regarded as a promising policy measure to combat congestion, internalize external costs of transport, and offset decreasing fuel tax revenues. However, the implementation of mobility pricing in Switzerland is hindered by a lack of empirical evidence, among other things. In the field experiment participants participated through the use of a GPS tracking app, Catch-my-Day, which logged their daily travel on different transport modes and imputed the trip segments and modes. The experiment lasted 8 weeks, bookended by online surveys. After the first 4 week control phase, participants were split into three treatment groups. The first continued as a control. The second received information on their external costs, and the third received a real monetary budget, from which their external costs were deducted. The first results show that the technology is capable of supporting such an experiment on both Android and iOS, the two main mobile platforms. Significant differences in the engagement and attrition were observed between iOS and Android participants over the 8 week period. Finally, the attrition rate did not vary between treatment groups.