Abstract

This paper proposes the use of motivational features in mobile applications to support adolescents’ education in sustainable travel urban behavior, so that they become more mindful of their environmental impact. To this effect, existing persuasive strategies are adopted, implemented, and integrated into six simulated screens of a prospective mobile application named ESTA, designed for this purpose through a user-centered design process. These screens are then assessed by secondary education pupils, the outcome of which is analyzed and presented in detail. The analysis takes into consideration the possibility for the daily use of ESTA in order for the adolescents to foster an eco-friendly and healthy transit attitude and make more sustainable mobility choices that will follow them throughout their life. The potential effectiveness of ESTA is demonstrated via two use cases: the “Daily Commuting” case is addressed towards adolescents who want to move within their area of residence or neighborhood following their daily routine and activities, while the “Weekend Entertainment” is addressed towards adolescents who want to move using the available public transport modes, encouraging them to adopt greener weekend travel habits.

Highlights

  • Mobility is “the ability to move from one place to another” [1]

  • According to [11,12], the physical development of children is closely associated with their freedom of movement, while they are not accompanied by adults

  • For supporting the education of adolescents in sustainable travel urban behavior, our research proposes the use of a mobile application, named ESTA (Educating adolescents in Sustainable Travel urban behavior through mobile Applications)

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Summary

Introduction

Mobility is “the ability to move from one place to another” [1]. the independent mobility of children is typically defined as the freedom to travel around the neighborhood or city without adult supervision [2,3]. It is apparent that these digital devices, along with the accompanying applications, can create exciting and compelling, highly customized and personalized environments for learning and education in every age [32,38] These environments can integrate motivational techniques which can be applied as learning aid instruments, acting directly or indirectly in the direction of engaging students and promoting eco-friendly travel outcomes beyond the four walls of the classroom [39,40]. These outcomes involve more sustainable multimodal transport choices and habits by children within their region, including walking, cycling and public transport.

Related Work and Persuasive Strategies Used
Designing ESTA Using Motivational Features—Stage 1
ESTA’s Simulation Screens
Use Cases
Use Case “Daily Commuting”
Use Case “Weekend Entertainment”
Outcomes
Findings—Discussion
Limitations and Future Steps

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