Freewheeling on Human Risk with Thomas Ableman

About this episode

The episode discusses the challenges of managing loud phone and media usage on public transport and explores broader implications for human behavior and social norms.

Why is it so hard to stop people playing vides, music or phone calls out loud on public transport — and what does that tell us about changing human behaviour? Show Summary This episode of The Human Risk Podcast is a little different. It is a cross-cast from The Freewheeling Podcast , hosted by Thomas Ablema n, in which I join Thomas to tackle a problem raised by the show's most important listener: his mum. The issue? People using phones, videos, music and speaker calls out loud on trains and buses. What begins as a seemingly small transport etiquette problem quickly becomes a much bigger conversation about social norms, antisocial behaviour, customer experience, incentives, enforcement and the limits of signage. In our discussion, we explore why simply telling people to stop may not work, how reactance can make things worse, and why transport operators need to think more creatively about behaviour change. Along the way, we consider quiet carriages, “electronic entertainment carriages”, cheap headphones, better-targeted messaging, staff intervention, social media campaigns and the wider question of whether public transport operators are responsible for the behaviour of the humans…

People in this episode

Host: Thomas Ableman

Topics covered

• human behavior
• public transport
• social norms
• antisocial behavior
• customer experience
• behavior change

Keywords

• public transport
• social norms
• antisocial behavior
• behavior change
• transport etiquette

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