Travel, Transport & Mobility

09.00-09.30 Registration & coffee

09.30-09.50 Extended opening remarks from the Chair

Marty Herbert, Global Head of Experience Design, KPMG

09.50-10.15 Getting people out of their cars and on to the train

Virgin Trains East Coast wanted to understand how to grow their customer journeys. They firstly needed to identify the biggest barriers to taking the train and then tackle the multifaceted ‘affordability’ issue. Hear how behaviour change research provided confidence to make a bold marketing move which resulted in increased growth of over 5%pt share vs car travel year on year.

• Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative research, to understand the different dimensions of price
• Improving customers’ perceptions of the cost of train travel
• Building a tool kit of behaviour change interventions

Annabel Wren, Associate, Incite

Lizzie Eckardt, Principal, Incite

Clare Marks, Head of Research & Insight, London North Eastern Railway

(formerly Virgin Trains East Coast)

10.15-10.45 PANEL: The future of mobility

A lively panel discussion led by Tim Sander, Director, BVA BDRC on shaping and responding to new mobility drivers and requirements and the role of different players in the future travel landscape.

John Backway, Head of Commercial Development, Southeastern

Sian Gannon, COO, Tomorrow’s Journey

Richard Rowson, Transport technology Consultant, F17

Steve Close, Senior Social Researcher, Transport Systems Catapult

10.45-11.00 Urban Mobility 2020: Unlocking the global commuting conundrum

Kadence is going to share with you a brief overview of their unique Urban Mobility study which is going to be launching in February 2019. It’s going to highlight the citizen experience of getting around 9 diverse cities around the world (Shanghai, Mumbai, Jakarta, Singapore, London, Tokyo, Berlin, New York and Los Angeles).

They are going to be profiling people’s daily commutes, uncovering painpoints, testing innovative concepts in response to these painpoints, and finally exploring which sectors and brands are most associated with these future urban mobility solutions.

Greg Clayton, Managing Director, Kadence International UK

Bianca Abulafia, Insight Director, Kadence International

11.00-11.20 Morning refreshments

11.20-11.45 Implementing, monitoring and evaluating effective travel demand management and travel behaviour change programs

Australia is currently home to some of the world’s most pioneering and innovative (TDM) programmes that are revolutionising how cities keep moving during periods of immense pressure or change. This session will share the results and lessons learnt from ground-breaking Travel Demand Management  programmes including the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, Metropolitan Melbourne Network Impact Management plan and Sydney CBD Travel Choices programs.

• Changing the behaviour of drivers and altering peak hour car movements in one of the world’s most iconic and busy cities
• Delivering a robust and responsive  tracking monitoring and evaluation program for continuous  evaluation and improvement

Rose McArthur – Technical Principal, Travel Demand Management, Mott MacDonald

11.45-12.10 Restricted access: ensuring mobility for all

More than one in ten UK adults are affected by physical mobility issues. Working in partnership with Scope, Opinium created an innovative programme of research utilising daily video diaries, journey mapping, geo-tagging and qualitative interviews designed to uncover the physical and attitudinal barriers faced by disabled people, explore the impact these restrictions had on their day-to-day lives and to inform future transport policy development.

• Examining how to improve customer journeys for people with mobility issues
• Sharing achievements and set-backs from the project
• How this insight is being used to drive long-term change

Wez Eathorne, Research Director, Opinium

Kapila Perera, Head of Research and Impact, Scope

12.10-12.40 Tackling sensitive and ‘hidden’ issues on the London Underground

In this session TfL will share a programme of important work it is undertaking to address sensitive issues and change social norms on the underground. It will focus on two case studies.

Improving the journey experience for thousands of Londoners with hidden disabilities

The ‘Please offer me a seat’ badge and card scheme was designed by TfL to help those with hidden disabilities and conditions travel more comfortably and confidently on the London transport network.  To ensure the scheme would lead to positive behaviour change research was needed to trial the POMAS scheme in a real-world environment, before implementation.

Emma Johns, Associate Director, 2CV

Alison Gibbs, Insight Manager, TfL

Preventing suicides on London underground: speaking the unspeakable

Reducing the number of suicides that occur on London Underground is an important goal for TfL and requires an evidence-based, network wide prevention strategy. But how do you find the right way to talk to the public about suicide, without making the problem seem more widespread than it is, confusing customers, or risking reputational damage. This case study, will examine a fresh approach taken to tackle the unique challenges of this sensitive project.

Chloe De Schryver, Research Manager, 2CV

Martin Bendrey, Programme Lead For Suicide Prevention, TfL

12.40-13.40 Lunch

13.40-14.05 Unpicking changing customer priorities guiding travel choices and experiences

Transport Focus is keen to understand changing trends, needs and expectations of rail passengers.   This paper will present a story using new insights from the National Rail Passenger Survey & other surveys around how changing patterns in the workplace, and changing priorities for how to make the most of travel time, are having an impact not only on the practical needs of commuters and business travellers, but also their emotional needs while travelling. 

Sinéad Jefferies, Consultant, Watermelon

Ian Wright, Head of Innovation and Partnerships, Transport Focus

14.05-14.30 P&O Ferries case study: embracing virtual reality as part of a mixed methodology approach to understanding on-board CX

P&O Ferries wanted to gain a deep understanding of the on-board Dover to Calais experience and how this could be improved.  Virtual Reality exposed an additional rich source of untapped insight. Hear how VR, alongside online quant surveys, a value needs segmentation, on-board exit interviews and an online community, provided detailed feedback and helped to unpick the perceptions of P&O’s passengers.

Dr Ali Goode, Cognitive Scientist, Gorilla in the Room

Helen Bailey, Managing Director, Aviatrix

Michaela Mullen, Head of Customer Experience, P&O Ferries

14.30-14.55 Southeastern Railway case study: mapping the customer journey

Having modelled the entire customer experience into a seven-stage journey map, Southeastern needed to understand priority areas as defined by passengers, both emotionally as well as rationally, that will become the key focus to improve performance. This session will examine the 3 stage approach was applied to meet the objectives:

• A qualitative ethnographic study where real passengers recorded their in-the-moment experience with touchpoints and emotions in an app-based diary
• Qualitative discussion groups that included image-based emotion elicitation techniques
• A quantitative online survey amongst Southeastern users with a preferred choice technique to determine the priority order of focus

Thomas Folqué, Research Manager, Director On the Move Division, BVA BDRC

Howard Tarr, Head of Insights, Southeastern Railway

14.55-15.20 TUI UK case study: fusing database and survey data to create a fantastic “hybrid segmentation” in the travel category

Attitudinal segmentations have been the go-to approach for market segmentation since the 1970s. But the data world has changed, and many companies now have rich databases at the centre of their marketing activities. So how do you get the best of both worlds? The answer is hybrid segmentation: the fusion of attitudinal survey data with database variables relating to transactions and (geo) demographics. This case study will illustrate how hybrid segmentation is driving marketing activities at TUI - one of the world’s leading travel companies.

Dr. Leigh Morris, Managing Director, Bonamy Finch

Karen Bilsborough, Senior Customer Insight Manager, TUI

15.20-15.40 Afternoon refreshments

15.40-16.05 Understanding travellers’ response to information provision during disruption

Social media is a two-edged sword when dealing with unplanned disruptions, delays and congestion.  Operators can communicate issues instantly to passengers but similarly passengers can vent their frustrations instantly and publically which can cause reputational damage.

This session will examine ‘in the moment’ insights from consumers experiencing disruption and travellers’ satisfaction with the information provided by train operators.

• Analysing key findings from the pilot and main stages and updating on current survey activity
• How are research findings being used to optimise social media communications?

Rob Sheldon, Managing Director, Accent

Marc Horrex, Customer Insights Research, Rail Delivery Group

16.05-16.30 Cycle triggers qualitative research

Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has an aim to significantly increase take-up in cycling and to make cycling a safe, viable and attractive alternative to car travel. This session will explore how the research uncovered the various stages of cycling engagement, the common barriers and enablers to cycling and the key tipping points through which these factors can positively or negatively exert their influence.

Zoe Cooper, Human Factors Specialist, Mott MacDonald

16.30-16.55 Can behavioural science save lives? exploring driver perceptions and behaviour around breakdowns

Breakdowns resemble a fight or flight situation where drivers have only a matter of seconds to make life changing decisions under immense pressure. Highways England wanted to understand how people react in the event of a breakdown to reduce the number of kills and serious injuries (KSIs). A mixed method approach rooted in behavioural science was used to understand the decision-making process in this context.

• Uncovering the underlying psychological process behind drivers’ responses during breakdown situations
• Designing a quantitative online survey based on implicit tools that replicate decision making under time pressure
• Key recommendations for campaigns and messages to communicate breakdown safety to drivers

Will Folan-Conray, Research & Client Partnership Director, Irrational Agency

Pankti Shah, Behavioural Economist, Irrational Agency

Manjit Galsinh, Acting Head of Insight, Highways England

16.55-17.05 Closing remarks from Chair

17.15 Sponsored drinks reception