Evaluating a Travel App's Influence on College Student Commuting to Campus

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial (cRCT) portion of the study will focus on evaluating the use of information, marketing, and incentives to shape student travel behavior to campus through the three channels identified in Ajzen's (1991) framework.

Detailed Description
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The investigators will evaluate whether a package of information, marketing, and incentives shifts student travel behavior to campus over one year, and in turn if these shifts in travel behavior result in improved academic performance. Specific objectives of the cRCT include evaluating whether the intervention results in relatively: Greater utilization of travel modes alternative to single-occupant vehicle travel (transit, biking, walking, bike-sharing, electric scooters, and carpooling) Lower rates of car ownership Superior college performance--higher grade point averages (GPAs) More credit hours completed Higher retention rates

Official Title
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Using a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial to Evaluate a Travel App's Influence on College Student Commuting to Campus

Conditions
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Health Behavior

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: MaaS app
* Other: No app


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Students who live off-campus and attend any of the following three colleges or universities: Florida Atlantic University (FAU), Broward College (BC), or Palm Beach State College (PBSC). Students must plan to be at the same institution for the next academic year. Exclusion Criteria: Students live on campus Students will leave their current institution within the next academic year

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Basic Science
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Active Comparator: MaaS app<br>The Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) App will be provided to students in the Intervention Group and is intended to facilitate their use of alternative transportation modes such as public transit, ride-hailing, walking, biking, bike share, and e-scooter share to get to campus. The MaaS App will be downloaded to students' smartphones and will provide real-time, multimodal trip planning to students on demand when they open the app. This means, for instance, that a student can plan a trip that includes driving to a train station, taking the train, and then walking from the alighting train station to their final destination. The app will be white label, i.e. it will have a customized look and feel specific to the participating south Florida colleges, and it will have personalization features so that students can tailor the app to their travel patterns. Students in a cluster assigned to the MaaS group will also receive information concerning housing options. Students complete surveys | Other: MaaS app<br>* The MaaS App will be downloaded to students' smartphones and will provide real-time, multimodal trip planning to students on demand when they open the app.<br>|
| Placebo Comparator: No app<br>Students receive no app, no housing information, students complete surveys. | Other: No app<br>* students receive no app or housing information<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| The rate of students using alternative modes increases. | Percentage of trips taken to campus by alternative modes. Will students in the intervention group, subject to information and marketing incentives as delivered through a MaaS app, be more likely to use alternative modes to reach campus? | one academic year | 
| Number of students who make more frequent use of alternative modes to campus are associated with increased grade point averages. | Number of students who make more frequent use of alternative modes to campus or who do not own vehicles | one academic year | 
| Number of students who make more frequent use of alternative modes to campus are associated with increases in credit hours earned. | Number of students who make more frequent use of alternative modes to campus or students who do not own vehicles | one academic year | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| The rate of students who own vehicles should decrease. | Student car ownership--Will students in the intervention group, subject to information and marketing incentives as delivered through a MaaS app, reduce their level of car reliance? | one academic year | 
| Number of students who make more frequent use of alternative modes to campus are associated with increases in retention. | Number of students who make more frequent use of alternative modes to campus or who do not own vehicles | one academic year | 
| Number of students who make more frequent use of alternative modes to campus are associated with increases in degree completion. | Number of studentswho make more frequent use of alternative modes to campus or students or do not own vehicles | one academic year | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Students, Transportation, Academic achievement, Behavior