Table 4 Methodology: Overview of research activities and learning outcomes

Research phases

Research activities

● This table only includes meetings we have had with actors external to the central project team.

● For privacy reasons, respondents have been anonymized.

● See Appendix 2 for a detailed description of literature review step 1.

● See Appendix 3 for the interview guide that was used during interviews and meetings.

Learning outcomes

Description of the insight gained in each step + changes made in assessment framework.

Phase 0:

Getting started

October 2019

Project meetings:

● Kickoff meeting Algorithmic Studio project with City of Utrecht, Rathenau Instituut and researchers connected to the project.

Defined project timeline, research agenda and deliverables.

Phase 1:

Inventarisation & desk research

November 2019–March 2020

Literature review in 3 steps:

In each step of the literature review new

public values are identified and those that are

included in the final framework are pointed

out in the column on learning outcomes.

Already identified public values were

constantly refined during the research process.

The first step was conducted in the beginning of the research, the second and third step of the literature review overlapped in time.

Identification of existing public values and narrowed down to a selection of public values that are included in the final framework because of their relevance for mobility platforms.

Step 1: Systematic literature search in Web of Science using values identified in Rathenau Instituut’s report Urgent Upgrade Protect Public Values in Our Digitized Society (Social and ethical themes in Table 3.1) as search terms. For further information see Appendix 2.

Public values identified in this step that are included in the final framework: freedom of movement, freedom of choice, privacy, accessibility, proximity richness, sustainable energy, ownership and affordability.

Step 2: Literature search based on snowballing method. We followed up on authors identified in the first step as well as recommendations by interview partners.

Public values (newly) identified in this step that are included in the final framework: health, social interaction, accountability, transparency and legitimacy.

Step 3: Literature search to identify literature about three Scandinavian mobility platform pilots, namely Whim, Kutsuplus, and UbiGo. These three cases were selected for their recent implementation, high academic coverage, and comparable locations in Scandinavia. We identified relevant literature in Web of Science as well as based on recommendations by interview respondents.

Public values (newly) identified in this step that are included in the final framework: adaptability and reliability.

In addition, this step informed us about public value safeguarding practices regarding the three selected cases.

Interviews (conducted in parallel with the literature review):

● Interview with international academic expert (E1)

● Interview with international academic expert (E2)

● Interview with Dutch mobility consultant (C1)

● Interview with Dutch mobility consultant (C2)

Collection of information about examples of existing mobility platforms in Finland and Sweden and anticipated platforms in the Netherlands.

With the existing Scandinavian examples, we wanted to learn about safeguarding values and public values failures.

Regarding the Dutch cases, we talked to consultants who assessed (a) the feasibility of MaaS cases and (b) the challenges for these projects that we could link to public values identified through the literature review.

Creative sessions:

● Workshop on the topic of post-mobility futures in collaboration with the Green Office (Utrecht University)

We presented our framework and conducted a workshop in which we applied the framework to empirical cases to steer a dialogue on how to safeguard public values.

We learned that the framing of the public values was oriented towards academics and not intuitively understandable to practitioners or academics from unrelated disciplines. Also, the framework was considered too comprehensive and needed grouping into dimensions.

Subsequently, we narrowed down the number of public values to the most relevant ones, organized them into four dimensions and phrased them in an intuitively understandable manner, applicable to the context of a mobility platform. The relevance of the selected public values as well as their intuitiveness was tested in subsequent workshops.

Project meetings:

● Meeting with project leader City of Utrecht (P1)

● Meeting with Rathenau Instituut

● Meeting with project manager at Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure (P2)

Collection of information about the mobility project of the City of Utrecht.

Creation of an overview of the relevant developments around mobility platforms in the Netherlands.

Presentation of the public values framework to the Rathenau Instituut. We are thankful for the comments, discussion, and literature recommendations, which we incorporated subsequently.

Phase 2:

Design phase

March–June 2020

Creative sessions:

● Workshop with City of Utrecht

● Expert session with Rathenau Instituut and PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency

● Expert session with academic expert (E2) and colleagues

● Expert session with academic experts (E3 and E4)

Try-out of public values framework in workshops with different experts to see if public values were clear and if participants identified missing values.

Furthermore, the coherence of the framework’s dimensions and the policy scenarios was discussed (see our conclusion). Participants were invited to imagine their ideal mobility platform, to see which values they would prioritize. Participants gave feedback based on their expertise in governance, mobility or public administration.

Subsequently, we refined the framework and its dimensions.

Interviews:

● Interview with Scandinavian mobility consultant (C3)

● Interview with academic expert (E5)

● Interview with academic expert (E6)

● Interview with project leader City of Amsterdam (P3)

● Interview with Dutch mobility consultant (C4)

Further collection of information on the Scandinavian mobility platforms.

Collection of information on the Dutch mobility cases.

Creation of an overview of the governance challenges of mobility platforms.

Subsequently, we refined the framework. Most prominently we worked on the dimensions of “Service” and “Democratic control”.

Project meetings:

● Meeting with project leader City of Utrecht (P4)

● Meeting with project leader City of Utrecht (P1)

Refinement of the public values framework.

Received updates about the progress of the Merwede case and the occurring governance challenges. Gathered input for an advisory report for the City of Utrecht.

Phase 3: Dissemination

July–August 2020 (activities continued after official ending)

Creative sessions:

● Follow-up workshop with City of Utrecht

Gathered input for an advisory report for the City of Utrecht.

Writing:

● Academic publication on the governance challenges of Merwede, Utrecht

● Academic publication on our public values framework (current article)

● Policy report with the results of our research project, in Dutch and English.

● Advisory report for City of Utrecht (not publicly available)

Construction of the final public values framework and reporting of the findings in publications aimed at different audiences.

Interviews:

● Interviews with media outlets

Presentations:

● Presentation as part of a council meeting of the City of Utrecht

Sharing our results about safeguarding public values on mobility platforms and answering questions with an audience of policy makers, local politicians, citizens and local organizations.

Publications by: RTV Utrecht, Verkeerskunde, Heijmans, Utrecht University.