Understanding travel behaviour change during mega-events: lessons from the London 2012 Games

Parkes, Stephen D.; Jopson, Ann; Marsden, Greg

Abstract

This paper presents results from a longitudinal study of the travel behaviour change associated with the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games (the ‘Games’). The research examines commuter travel behaviour through a panel approach enabling an understanding of individual behaviour across three waves (before, during and after), with the study utilising unique access to a Transport for London panel study (n = 1132). The findings indicate that a substantial amount of change occurred during the Games (54% made at least one change), with reducing or re-timing journeys being the most likely adaptations made. A key objective of this work was to advance the discussion about the theoretical constructs that are most applicable in the study of behaviour change associated with disruptive events, which was done through the application and critical evaluation of the Transtheoretical Model. The insights from the stages of change element of the model were relatively limited but the analysis shows significant differences in the underlying factors explaining change according to the type of change made (reduce, re-time, re-mode and re-route). Whilst the long-term behavioural impacts of events like the Games appear small, the study has uncovered a need to consider these behavioural choices as distinct rather than under the collective term of “travel behaviour change”, as is current practice.

Citation

Parkes, S. D., Jopson, A., & Marsden, G. (2016). Understanding travel behaviour change during mega-events: lessons from the London 2012 Games. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 92, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2016.07.006

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 19, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Aug 6, 2016
• Publication Date: Oct 1, 2016
• Deposit Date: Sep 16, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 16, 2016
• Journal: Transportation Research: Part A
• Electronic ISSN: 0965-8564
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 92
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2016.07.006
• Keywords: Olympics and Paralympics; Behaviour change; Disruption; Mega-event; Transtheoretical Model; Stages of change
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/974788
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2016.07.006