Off-peak travel: Trial shows rewards work

Ongoing study 'nearing goal' of shifting 10% of peak-hour train trips to less busy periods
By Royston Sim, The Straits Times, 23 Mar 2012

A TRIAL that offers commuters a chance to win up to $100 if they travel during morning off-peak hours has yielded positive results so far.

On average, nearly 10 per cent of daily morning trips by the study's participants are made outside of the peak period from 7.31am to 8.29am.

'We're pretty much near our goal right now,' said Professor Balaji Prabhakar, one of the researchers behind the study by Stanford University in the United States and the National University of Singapore.

Prof Balaji, who hails from Stanford's electrical engineering department, had set a target of shifting 10 per cent of peak-hour trips to off-peak periods. This 10 per cent redistribution would ease the peak-hour crush, he said.

About two months into the six-month study, he said he was 'cautiously optimistic' about the preliminary results.

There are now more than 8,000 participants in the trial, nearly double the figure when the study was launched in January. Researchers hope to attract up to 20,000 participants.

Prof Balaji said researchers will launch a new feature early next month, named 'magic box', in every participant's account.

Gifts such as points or 'boosts' that increase the number of points earned per trip will be put into each participant's box at least once a week, as an additional incentive for them to travel during off-peak periods. To take part, commuters must register at www.insinc.sg and provide their 16-digit ez-link card numbers.

Those selected for the study will be given points for every kilometre of train travel.

They will earn one point for every kilometre travelled during the peak period from 7.31am to 8.29am.

Commuters get three points per kilometre for opting to travel during the off-peak periods of 6.30am to 7.30am and 8.30am to 9.30am. They can also pre-determine one day a week when they plan to travel during the off-peak periods and earn five points per kilometre.

These points can be directly redeemed or exchanged for chances to earn $1 to $100, which will be credited to commuters' ez-link cards every month.

According to figures from the trial's website, more than $30,500 has been doled out to more than 3,300 commuters.

Prof Balaji said studies have shown that commuters are more likely to change their behaviour if they stand a chance to win larger rewards compared to pre-determined small amounts.

He conducted an earlier incentive-based study to encourage commuters from a company in Bangalore, India, to travel during less congested times.

That project succeeded in roughly doubling the number of commuters travelling during off-peak hours.

The Incentives for Singapore's Commuters (Insinc) study costs about $400,000, and supporters include the Land Transport Authority (LTA).

A spokesman said the study's results will help the LTA plan for future demand management programmes and incentives.

Earlier this month, Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew also announced that an inter-ministerial work group will be formed to study ways to introduce flexible work arrangements to ease congestion on the public transport system.

Minister of State (Transport) Josephine Teo and Minister of State (Manpower) Tan Chuan-Jin will chair the group, which will explore options such as staggered working hours.

The Straits Times understands that the work group will hold its first meeting in the coming weeks.