Promoting Ridesharing in Urban Areas through Accompanying Advertising Measures and Incentives: A Case Study of the City of Ried, Austria

Urban congestion and Scope 3 emission accountability drive the need for sustainable mobility. (EcoHedge, 2024; Machado et al., 2018). Ridesharing offers potential but often fails to scale (Shoshany-Tavory et al., 2022). This study examines how a multi-stakeholder approach, based on the Quadruple Helix framework, can promote ridesharing. A case study in Ried, Austria, used the DOMINO app (https://domino-app.at) during European Mobility Week 2024 to launch a collaborative ridesharing initiative. The app combined multimodal routing, data tracking, and point-based rewards. Results show that collaboration among companies, nonprofits, the city, and academia led to active engagement. Promotional efforts resulted in an initial increase in usage and shared rides. However, activity declined after the incentive phase ended, underlining the need for sustained engagement. Despite appealing rewards, participation remained below expectations, suggesting that behavioural change requires long-term commitment and targeted strategies to maximize impact.