Incentives for alternatives to the car in Northstowe
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN12273570 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN12273570 |
- Submission date
- 03/03/2020
- Registration date
- 13/03/2020
- Last edited
- 20/10/2023
- Recruitment status
- No longer recruiting
- Overall study status
- Completed
- Condition category
- Other
Plain English Summary
Background and study aims
The way that we travel influences our health, and research shows that walking, cycling or using public transport promotes physical activity which is beneficial for health. However, the way we choose to travel is also influenced by the environment, for example, the cost, reliability and convenience of public transport, ease of walking and cycling and availability of parking. Because of this, there is a focus on building cities and towns that provide healthy environments that encourage people to walk, cycle and use public transport. Within these environments, some additional strategies such as incentives are often assumed to encourage individuals to walk, cycle and use public transport, but there is not enough research to show whether or not they work. Northstowe is a new town with plans to build 10,000 new homes. It is located approximately 8 miles north of Cambridge and its environment is designed to encourage walking, cycling and public transport use. As residents move to Northstowe, travel incentives, for example, bus passes and equipment vouchers are offered by the council, funded by the home developers to encourage residents to travel this way. The Incentives for alternatives to the CAr iN Northstowe (ICAN-Northstowe) study aims to understand how people use the incentives and how they influence behaviour. The study is too small to say definitively whether the incentives work, but it will guide scientists to design a future study that can answer this question.
Who can participate?
Adults over the age of 16 who live in Northstowe and have not claimed any travel incentives from the Travel Plan Co-ordinator.
What does the study involve?
Participants are invited to join this study by a letter sent to their home. If they want to take part, they complete a questionnaire asking questions about their neighbourhood, travel patterns, general health and household. Participants can choose to complete the questionnaire in an online or paper format. The questionnaire will take approximately ten minutes to complete and after this, participants are randomly allocated to one of three groups. For the first group, nothing will change and participants can continue to claim the travel benefits as normal. Participants allocated to the second group will receive the travel incentives that are currently offered, but instead of having to claim them, they will receive them directly via post or email. For those allocated to the third group, more of the incentives are sent directly to the participants. Participants also complete online questionnaires after 3, and 6 months after the initial survey.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
Participants may benefit from the travel incentives offered in the study. This depends on whether they are allocated to group 1, group 2 or group 3. In addition, participants may benefit from increasing their physical activity, which could potentially have long term benefits to participants’ health. There are no anticipated risks involved with participating.
Where is the study run from?
The study is run from the University of Cambridge and takes place in the community of Northstowe, a new town located 8 miles north of Cambridge, UK
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
March 2020 to May 2022
Who is funding the study?
National Institute for Health Research (UK)
Who is the main contact?
Dr Jenna Panter
jenna.panter@mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk
Contact information
Scientific
MRC Epidemiology Unit
University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine
Box 285 Institute of Metabolic Science
Cambridge Biomedical Campus
Cambridge
CB2 0QQ
United Kingdom
 ORCID ID |
0000-0001-8870-718X |
|---|---|
| Phone | +44 (0)1223 746884 |
| jenna.panter@mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk |
Public
MRC Epidemiology Unit
University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine
Level 3 Institute of Metabolic Science
Addenbrooke’s Treatment Centre
Cambridge Biomedical Campus
Cambridge
CB2 0SL
United Kingdom
| ORCID ID |
0000-0003-4869-1181 |
|---|---|
| Phone | +44 (0)1223 763378 |
| kate.garrott@mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk |
Study information
| Study design | Feasibility three-arm randomised controlled trial |
|---|---|
| Primary study design | Interventional |
| Secondary study design | Randomised controlled trial |
| Study setting(s) | Community |
| Study type | Prevention |
| Participant information sheet | http://www.mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk/research/studies/ican-northstowe/ |
| Scientific title | Feasibility of a randomised controlled trial of financial incentives to promote alternatives to the car in a new housing development |
| Study acronym | ICAN-Northstowe |
| Study hypothesis | Incentives for using alternative travel modes to the car increase walking, cycling and public transport use among recipients living in the new housing development of Northstowe. As a feasibility trial, this trial will not be adequately powered for hypothesis testing. |
| Ethics approval(s) | Approved 27/01/2020, School of Humanities and Social Sciences ethics committee, University of Cambridge (Dr Emma Dollard, 2nd Floor, 27 Mill Lane, Cambridge, CB2 1RX, UK; +44 (0)1223764061; cshssethics@admin.cam.ac.uk), ethics case: 19/228 |
| Condition | Prevention of disease |
| Intervention | Participants will be matched on baseline survey responses according to car access and baseline travel patterns and will be randomised to one of three groups. The randomisation will occur at the household level on a 1:1:1 ratio. Group 1 (Control) – In this condition participants will continue with standard practice. They can contact the Travel Plan Co-ordinator to claim a range of travel incentives, for example, £50 walking and cycling equipment vouchers. Group 2 (Intervention) – This involves reducing the effort required to obtain the incentives. A package of incentives is delivered directly to participants via post or email. Group 3 (Intervention Plus) - This involves reducing the effort required to obtain the incentives and increasing the dose by delivering a package of incentives of a greater size directly to participants via post or email, for example £100 walking and cycling equipment vouchers. Participants complete online questionnaires after 3, 6, and 12 months after the initial survey. |
| Intervention type | Behavioural |
| Primary outcome measure | Current primary outcome measure as of 15/09/2021: 1. Recruitment rate expressed as the percentage of eligible participants that are randomised 2. Attrition rate: percentage of participants lost to follow up at 3 and 6 months 3. Incentive use measured via self-report questionnaire at 3 and 6 months and qualitative interviews with study participants at baseline, 3 and 6 months 4. Acceptability of intervention assessed through qualitative interviews with study participants from each study group at baseline, 3 and 6 months 5. Contamination: use of incentive outside household members measured via self-report questionnaire at 3 and 6 months and qualitative interviews with study participants at baseline, 3 and 6 months Previous primary outcome measure: 1. Recruitment rate expressed as the percentage of eligible participants that are randomised 2. Attrition rate: percentage of participants lost to follow up at 3, 6 and 12 months 3. Incentive use measured via self-report questionnaire at 3, 6 and 12 months and qualitative interviews with study participants at baseline, 3 and 6 months 4. Acceptability of intervention assessed through qualitative interviews with study participants from each study group at baseline, 3 and 6 months 5. Contamination: use of incentive outside household members measured via self-report questionnaire at 3, 6 and 12 months and qualitative interviews with study participants at baseline, 3 and 6 months |
| Secondary outcome measures | Current secondary outcome measures as of 15/09/2021: The secondary outcomes assess the change in travel patterns. The study is not powered for statistical testing, therefore the researchers will present descriptive statistics of the secondary outcomes at each follow up: 1. Self-report number of cars owned by household at baseline, 3 and 6 month follow up 2. Daily travel time (minutes) per mode of travel (bus/train/car/cycle/walk) measured via self-report questionnaire at baseline, 3 and 6 month follow up 3. Mode of travel to work (car/public transport/bicycle/walking) measured via self-report at baseline, 3 and 6 month follow up 4. Cost of travel by mode (car/public transport) measured via self-report questionnaire at baseline, 3 and 6 month follow up Previous secondary outcome measures: The secondary outcomes assess the change in travel patterns. The study is not powered for statistical testing, therefore the researchers will present descriptive statistics of the secondary outcomes at each follow up: 1. Self-report number of cars owned by household at baseline, 3, 6 and 12 month follow up 2. Daily travel time (minutes) per mode of travel (bus/train/car/cycle/walk) measured via self-report questionnaire at baseline, 3, 6 and 12 month follow up 3. Mode of travel to work (car/public transport/bicycle/walking) measured via self-report at baseline, 3, 6 and 12 month follow up 4. Cost of travel by mode (car/public transport) measured via self-report questionnaire at baseline, 3, 6 and 12 month follow up |
| Overall study start date | 01/03/2020 |
| Overall study end date | 31/05/2022 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | Healthy volunteer |
|---|---|
| Age group | Adult |
| Lower age limit | 16 Years |
| Sex | Both |
| Target number of participants | The researchers aim to recruit 132 participants across the three study arms (approximately 44 in each study arm). |
| Total final enrolment | 99 |
| Participant inclusion criteria | 1. Adult aged 16 or over 2. Living in Northstowe 3. Have not previously claimed any travel incentives |
| Participant exclusion criteria | 1. Aged under 16 2. Do not reside in Northstowe 3. Have previously claimed travel incentives |
| Recruitment start date | 04/10/2021 |
| Recruitment end date | 30/11/2021 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- England
- United Kingdom
Study participating centre
University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine
Box 285 Institute of Metabolic Science
Cambridge Biomedical Campus
Cambridge
CB2 0QQ
United Kingdom
Sponsor information
University/education
School of Clinical Medicine
Addenbrooke's Hospital
Cambridge
CB2 0QQ
England
United Kingdom
| Phone | +44 (0)1223 769291 |
|---|---|
| cad50@medschl.cam.ac.uk | |
| Website | http://www.cambridge.org/ |
"ROR" |
https://ror.org/013meh722 |
Funders
Funder type
Government
Government organisation / Local government
- Alternative name(s)
- NIHR School for Public Health Research, NIHR SPHR, SPHR
- Location
- United Kingdom
Results and Publications
| Intention to publish date | 01/10/2023 |
|---|---|
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | No |
| IPD sharing plan summary | Stored in repository |
| Publication and dissemination plan | Planned submission of papers on the feasibility of the trial. |
| IPD sharing plan | The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are/will be available through the MRC Epidemiology Unit data sharing portal (https://epi-meta.mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk/). |
Study outputs
| Output type | Details | Date created | Date added | Peer reviewed? | Patient-facing? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Protocol file | version v2.0 | 02/03/2020 | 13/03/2020 | No | No |
| Results article | 30/09/2023 | 20/10/2023 | Yes | No |
Additional files
- ISRCTN12273570_PROTOCOL_v2.0_02Mar2020.docx
- Uploaded 13/03/2020
Editorial Notes
20/10/2023: Publication reference added.
29/06/2023: Contact details updated.
20/06/2023: The total final enrolment number was changed from 98 to 99.
26/11/2021: The total final enrolment number has been added.
20/10/2021: The recruitment end date has been changed from 18/10/2021 to 30/11/2021.
15/09/2021: Recruitment for this study is no longer paused and the following changes have been made:
1. The recruitment start date has been changed from 20/04/2020 to 04/10/2021.
2. The recruitment end date has been changed from 03/05/2020 to 18/10/2021.
3. The overall trial end date has been changed from 31/05/2021 to 31/05/2022.
4. The intention to publish date has been changed from 01/10/2021 to 01/10/2023.
5. The primary outcome measure has been updated.
6. The secondary outcome measures have been updated.
7. The plain English summary has been updated to reflect the changes above.
29/06/2020: Due to current public health guidance, recruitment for this study has been paused.
13/03/2020: Uploaded protocol Version 2.0, 02 March 2020 (not peer reviewed).
05/03/2020: Trial's existence confirmed by NIHR School for Primary Care Research.
