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Introduction To reduce pollution from motorized private cars, a modal shift toward more sustainable modes, such as public transport, is desired. A first step to achieving this is the subscription to a public transport ticket. It was investigated if an extended version of the theory of planned behavior is suited to predict subscription to a public transport ticket, and if environmental concern—the channel through which many sustainable transport modes are advertised—plays a significant role. It was further examined if nudging serves as an effective measure in convincing employees to subscribe to the offered ticket. Nudges encourage desired behaviors by changing the information set that individuals face when taking decisions; in this paper, this includes favorable defaults and the manipulation of the social norm. Since nudges lack a coherent theory, it was tested if these nudges can be integrated into the aforementioned theory. Method By means of an online experiment, participants (N = 373) were randomly assigned to different nudging conditions or a control condition. The questionnaire mimicked a working contract, including the decision for or against a subscription to the ticket. Results Results of structural equation modeling revealed that the theory predicted the purchase decision well, yet the impact of environmental concern was surprisingly low. Most tickets were purchased in the default condition, but no nudge reached statistical significance. Discussion and Conclusion The limitations of nudging in the transport sector are discussed, along with the effectiveness of advertising public transport through an environmental lens.

Background Applying the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) on socio-technical transitions, paired with the interdisciplinary framing approach, this paper investigates how incumbent actors of automobility in Germany framed the issue of a "transition of mobility and transport" ("Verkehrs/Mobilitätswende") in their public communication in 2020. We first identified representatives of industry, science, policy, and media, since the Verkehrs/Mobilitätswende and its implementation measures are contested among these actors. Employing qualitative content analysis, we then screened 325 public documents according to the elements of the framing approach problem definition, causal interpretation, moral evaluation, and treatment recommendation. Results Findings show that most of the actors frame a transformation of transport and mobility as a necessity. Their arguments encompass environmental and climate-related issues as well as infrastructural problems for bikes and public transport caused by the hegemony of automobility. The actors propose a variety of solutions, primarily focusing on technical innovations for cars or on the expansion of different infrastructures to achieve a modal shift towards sustainable mobility. Conclusion This paper demonstrates that there is no common understanding of the problems and solutions to foster a mobility transition, as the diversity of problems and solutions proposed within the frame elements is high and complicates the prevailing implementation gap of the mobility transition. Therefore, MLP should be conceptually and methodologically bridged with the interdisciplinary framing approach, particularly with regard to the transition of mobility and transport.

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