Pre-study: Serious games for data collection in the transportation

Purpose and goal:

This pre-study explores the potential of serious games as an innovative tool for data collection in transport planning, especially when traditional methods like surveys and simulations fall short.

The goal is to showcase the potentials by developing a game prototype that simulates the interplay between e-scooter sharing and public transportation, considering activities and stress levels throughout the day. Due to GDPR and data-sharing barriers, this data isn´t currently available. This outcome lays the foundation for future developments in using games for data collection.

Expected results and effects:

The main outcome is an open access game prototype simulating the interaction between e-scooter sharing and public transport.

The think-aloud method during test plays and subsequent interviews highlighted the potential of games for data collection and areas for improvement. Participants found the game engaging but not comprehensive and might not play it outside research. Preliminary interviews suggest gaming offers advantages over stated-preference methods by making scenarios more realistic.

Approach and implementation:

The main idea is to gain insights into travelers mode choice behavior (public transport, shared e-scooter and walking) under varying stress conditions and for different activities during a day. The use case focuses on in Gothenburg city.

City and transport infrastructure data were imported from Google and OpenStreetMap. Public transport and e-scooter sharing data were obtained from their respective websites/apps. The game was designed using the Unity engine. We conducted two test plays with 12 participants.