Towards an understanding of the determinants of user information needs in multimodal platform route choices

Multimodal platforms are spaces that offer a multitude of services to enable an individual to reach a destination. This means that users of these platforms must be able to choose a route from among several alternatives (Brunyé et al., 2010). In this case, the main resource available for making a modal choice is so-called ‘multimodal’ information. It allows the comparison of various route features identified by the individual (e.g., duration, price) (Tollis et al., 2020). This article attempts to identify three determinants associated with the information needed by the individual to adopt the ‘best’ route within these multimodal hubs. The objective will be to investigate, on the basis of the literature, the impact of these determinants on the information’s selection deemed relevant for user’s decision-making. The first determinant (1) is intrinsic to the mobility criteria sought by the user during the journey. This determinant has two dimensions: the user’s own mobility preferences, which are derived from his individual characteristics, and the characteristics of the context, which induce constraints to be respected. The second determinant (2) is related to the attributes of the modal offer from multimodal platforms in real time. It refers to the uncertainties of the offer, especially in case of disruption of the initially planned route, but also to platforms configuration and their network properties. Finally, the third determinant (3) groups the filters that modulate information needs. This modulation is associated with two elements, user’s mobility habits and cognitive economy strategies, which permit the user to limit the information needed to make a route choice.