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The view of public transport as complicated may hinder reduced car use
Researchers from K2 and Lund University have, in an interview study, examined how different people view their car use and the possibility of choosing other modes of transport instead. All groups, including those who use cars less, viewed public transport as complicated and time-consuming, which surprised the researchers. Among those who drive the most, the car represents a form of freedom.
What the researchers have examined is how people with different mobility profiles and life situations reason about their car use and how they view the possibility of stopping driving and using other modes of transport instead. The participants were divided into four groups based on whether they were working or retired, as well as whether they were frequent car users or not, and their responses were analysed using a time-geographical perspective.
“We conducted this study to understand where there is the greatest potential to reduce car use, and to identify the barriers that people in different life situations see to stopping driving,” says Gustav Lopez Svensson, a doctoral student at K2 and LTH, who conducted the study together with Lena Winslott Hiselius, Professor at LTH and a K2 researcher.
The hope was that the next step would be to propose ways of overcoming identified barriers in order to make it easier to stop driving and instead shift to more sustainable modes of transport.
The results of the study show that perceptions of modes of transport other than the car may be important for understanding people’s propensity to give up the car, or not, says Gustav Lopez Svensson.
The car often represented a form of freedom for the groups who used it the most
“What all groups had in common, regardless of the level of car use, was that they viewed public transport as complicated and time-consuming, which meant that they usually chose not to use it or only used it in emergencies. The car, in contrast, often represented a form of freedom, especially for the groups who used the car the most, but it is also clear that these groups see themselves as dependent on the car as a mode of transport to reach the places they want to go to in everyday life. The less car-oriented groups instead view cycling or active mobility as freedom.”
That the image of public transport was so negative across all groups was something that surprised the researchers.
“We had imagined that those who used the car less would be more positively inclined towards all other modes of transport,” says Gustav Lopez Svensson.
He hopes that the study can form the basis for further research examining the possibility of changing travel behaviour.
“Further research can be carried out on how perceptions of different modes of transport can be changed, and on challenging the perception of the car as the only mode of transport that creates a sense of freedom,” he says.
Text: Anna Maria Erling