Innovations

New Residents Mobility Welcome Kit

Code

PT2.13

Title

New Residents Mobility Welcome Kit

Case study/reference

http://www.eltis.org/discover/case-studies/new-residents-mobility-welcome-kit-almada-portugal

http://www.epomm.eu/index.php?id=2771&lang1=en&study_id=3775

http://www.smartmove-project.eu/news/10/58/Portuguese-city-gets-big-result-with-little-box/d,Simplex_Detail.html

https://ecomobility.org/alliance/alliance-cities/almada-portugal/

Recommendations for the design

This strategy focuses on promoting soft modes and public transport and aiming at positively changing citizens’ mobility behavior and reducing car use. Main objectives/key factors to be considered:

Promoting the use of new and more efficient technologies/alternative vehicles and fuels.
Involving citizens, informing and raising awareness.

The target group “New Residents” was surveyed and segmented according to the sustainable mobility marketing segmentation process. The analysis of the results concluded in the decision to promote public transport. As the segmentation methodology explains that people tend to be more receptive to mobility behaviour change when they experience a big change in their lives (new house, new job, new school etc.), the campaign had to be done in the weeks following the arrival of residents to their new houses.

Recommendations for the implementation

This measure/innovation/campaign needs a cooperation with a utility company to be involved (a water company for example) in order to identify the households/stakeholders assumed to be new residents of the area.

Media response to this campaign (including TV coverage) can be particularly important especially when the concept might have never been tried in the area/country.

The New Residents Welcome Kit was developed with the help of marketing and graphics experts, who helped the AGENEAL and Almada City Council team to design the campaign according to the characteristics of the chosen target group.

Brief description

The municipality of Almada obtained the addresses of the latest 600 people to start living in Almada and sent them a stylized cardboard box by courier. Inside there was a welcome letter, a PT Guide, information and promotion leaflets, some small gifts and free tickets for all Almada PT.

Full description

Almada City Council designed a new tool in the form of a promotion campaign for new residents. A mobility welcome kit was sent out in 2012 to 600 new residents of Almada. The recipients were identified by the local water utility company – which provided the city with a list of the latest households to sign a contract for water services. The welcome kits included a letter from the mayor as well as information and free tickets for all the city’s major public transport providers: bus and tram services as well as the ferry service across the Tagus River to Lisbon. The campaign received widespread media coverage – mainly because it was the first time that public transport had been promoted in this way in Portugal. A measure evaluation was carried out through a direct questionnaire sent to kit recipients to find out how their travel habits have changed. The results of the evaluation analysis determined that, in the wake of the measure, public transport use has risen by 13 percent while car use had dropped by 6 percent. On the down side, the number of pedestrians has fallen by 8 percent.

CIPTEC score

3.7