The effects of ambient scent on olfactory comfort and attitude toward its use in a tramway: an on-board study

The effects of ambient scent on olfactory comfort and attitude toward its use in a tramway: an on-board study

Nowadays, cities are increasingly promoting active transportation modes and public transport to reduce car use. In parallel, the management of problematic ambient factors such as the odour in public transport systems is becoming a very important issue due to crowding that is constantly increasing. I...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Public transport Vol. 16; no. 1; pp. 81 - 97
Main Authors: Collin, Frédéric, Dupuy, Arthur, Parrot, Isabelle, Barbara, Ismaël, Dray, Gérard, Martin, Sophie, Brunel, Lionel
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01-03-2024
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:
Attitudes
Automotive Engineering
Business and Management
CAE) and Design
Carriages
Cognitive science
Computer-Aided Engineering (CAD
Diffusers
Odors
Operations Research/Decision Theory
Original Research
Perfumes
Perspiration
Public policy
Public transportation
Tramways
Transportation
Transportation systems
User experience
R42
Attitude
Ambient scent
User experience
Tramway
Olfactory comfort
Transportation planning
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Summary:Nowadays, cities are increasingly promoting active transportation modes and public transport to reduce car use. In parallel, the management of problematic ambient factors such as the odour in public transport systems is becoming a very important issue due to crowding that is constantly increasing. In this context, in order to contribute to public policies and to reduce olfactory nuisances, we evaluated the effects of ambient scent diffusers on the user experience and their attitude toward the use of such devices in public transport. We collected data among users of the tramway of Montpellier (France). They were questioned on-board about the ambient odour in two different situations. Users answered either in presence (70 users) or absence (97 users) of an ambient scent in the tramway carriage they were in. Our main results show that the presence of an ambient scent increased the pleasantness rating of the ambient odour and attenuated the perception of other odours inherent to public transport (perspiration, food, perfumes, etc.). Furthermore, the user attitude toward the presence of such a device in tramway carriages improved when the ambient scent was present. Thus, ambient scents might be a great tool in order to improve the olfactory comfort in public transport.
ISSN:1866-749X
1613-7159
1613-7159
DOI:10.1007/s12469-023-00347-2