Analysing individual differences in car use to maintenance and discretionary leisure activities

Abstract

In order to reach ambitious goals of CO2 reduction, a decrease in fossil-fuelled private transport is important. Research on car use for commuters dominates literature although transport for leisure purposes constitutes a substantial share of the total transported kilometres. This study contributes by its focus on car use to maintenance (e.g. grocery shopping) and discretionary (e.g. social visits) leisure activities. We analyse whether individual perceptions about a personal responsibility to contribute to a sustainable transport sector restricts car use, and we also control for other factors such as type of municipality, residential area and sociodemographic characteristics. The analysis is based on survey data from 1024 car users living in rural, urban or metropolitan municipalities in Sweden. Data is analysed by applying recursive bivariate probit models. The results show that those who feel a personal responsibility to contribute to a sustainable transport sector drive less when travelling, in particular to maintenance activities. As well, those who regularly commute by car are more likely to use the car also for leisure purposes, which indicates that measures aimed at reducing commuting by car may spill over to travel for leisure.