Can control aid in attaining sustainable goals? An improved data-informed framework to promote shared mobility

This work explores the role control theory and practices can play in nudging a virtuous shift in mobility habits ( e.g. from vehicle ownership to usership), while keeping individual inclinations and needs in the (control) loop using data. To this end, an EU-wide survey is leveraged with a two-fold objective. First, a fine-grained characterization of individuals (the Sharing-DNA) is provided, dictated by the main socio-economic drivers for adopting shared mobility solutions extracted from the data. Second, a network is constructed to mimic mutual influences among individuals based on information on mobility patterns extrapolated from the EU survey. These ingredients are merged into an irreversible cascade model, representing the stepping stone for designing optimal, human-centered incentive policies to nudge the use of shared mobility services. In the quest to attain a trade-off between usage maximization and investment containment, the tuning of the design knobs is explored accounting for individuals’ centrality within the influence network. An extensive set of simulated scenarios demonstrate the potential benefits of individualized closed-loop policies in promoting sustainable mobility choices while respecting individualities, showcasing how the proposed framework can become an actionable tool for policymakers toward a more sustainable future.