Motivation factors

As mentioned in part 6.3.2, local people already have good knowledge about the importance of the municipality target but the inclination to pursue the municipality’s goal is not at the same level. The overall traffic is good enough on average for local people (average rating is 3 out of 5 according to part 6.4.1). However, the engagement level is quite low (average rating is 1.5 out of 5 according to part 6.4.1). Therefore, it is necessary to explore the motivation factors that can both improve the traffic and enhance the engagement, and consequently make the target more feasible at the individual level.

With the introduction of real-time CO2 sensor at every toll booth as mentioned in part 4.3, the concept can provide citizens with their car emissions in real time through an online application.

As such it is expected to raise the drivers’ awareness of their carbon footprint in order to adjust their behaviors. Together with this main feature, other features would be developed from the

62 needs of citizens to address their real-life issues. Table 6.5 is a summary of quotes demonstrating the wishes of car drivers to improve the traffic.

Table 6.5 Suggestions from respondents for other features of the mobile application Code Example from the interviews

CO2 indicator “If the car is emitting way too much CO2 on average then there is really something mechanically wrong with it. Maybe it gets the wrong mixture. There is leakage somewhere. So, this is a way to see troubles.” (Respondent 1.1)

“If this app can also check the level of CO2 emissions that EU control requires, then it is a good indicator. I would fix my engine to reduce CO2 emissions.” (Respondent 6.1)

CO2

Comparison/Competition

“Could be a nice thing that you are able to see whose car it is, to see what kind of car it is in your neighborhood but not identify the exact car. You can have the type of car in the region or the general average amount of CO2 in your neighborhood. So, it’s a nice possibility to compare.” (Respondent 8.1)

CO2 target follow-up “The target and the progress should be visible and updated. The goal should be broken down to every citizen, illustrated in a circle with the green, red and yellow signals.” (Respondent 5.1) Municipality update “I haven’t quite mastered how the municipality distribute its

information. For me it would be really great if they have updates like “new toll roads” or any activities through the app”.

Real-time toll payment “If it is real time, it is very practical. Like every time I pass a toll, I know a certain amount has been deducted. And I also hope it will also tell me that it costs zero because I pass within an hour.

So, it’s really nice to know that.” (Respondent 2.1)

Real-time traffic jam “It would be nice to know where the traffic is in advance so I can avoid wasting my time and fuel in the queue.” (Respondent 1.2)

63 Environmentally friendly

route

“I would like to have an app that can calculate the most efficient route by looking on the traffic. It can suggest the road than it normally would, which might be longer but faster because I can avoid the traffic jam. In this sense, it would be quite environmentally-friendly.” (Respondent 7.2)

Real-time parking lot “I am a newcomer to Stavanger. I am not used to the parking system here. I don’t know to find it out in advance unless I really drive to the place. If it’s full, then I have to drive around and hope.” (Respondent 3.2)

Source: Own illustration

As can be seen from Table 6.5, the respondents would like to insert other functions to the conceptual model in order to solve their driving issues which are already discovered in part 6.3.1 such as toll payment issue, traffic jam issue and parking lot issue. The corresponding solutions are real-time toll payment, real-time traffic jam and real-time parking lot. An addition function related to driving is demonstrating the most environmentally friendly route with the estimated least carbon footprint.

In order to enhance the citizen engagement, the respondents themselves would like to receive updates from the municipality on its news and activities through this mobile application. Also, they wish to interact with the municipality via this platform.

Besides the main feature of showing real-time CO2 emissions from cars, there are three implied factors that are appreciated by the respondents. First, CO2 emissions can play as an instrument for drivers to be aware of the technical performance of their car. By taking the standard CO2

emissions of EU Control and the average CO2 emissions of the same model into consideration, the mobile application can make a signal to drivers about their car status. Second, people have the tendency to be more enthusiastic when it comes to comparison or competition. They always want to become better in the region, so they would have motivation to strive for a more individual goal. Third, the progress against the CO2 goal of both municipality and citizens should be updated on a frequent basis. It is showing the dynamic partnership between citizens and the municipality in realizing the ambitious goal together.

Speaking of the competition, Stavanger Municipality is divided into seven boroughs: Eiganes and Våland, Hundvåg, Madla, Tasta, Storhaug, Hinna and Hillevåg (Stavanger, 2019). Under boroughs, there are different neighborhoods. Forus is within Hinna's area, however, it is also spread out over three different municipalities (Sola, Sandnes and Stavanger). For the purpose of clarity in this thesis, Forus will be used as a separate entity to avoid confusion. Therefore