European mobility cultures: A survey-based cluster analysis across 28 European countries

Abstract

More targeted European policies promoting green travel patterns require better knowledge on differing mobility cultures across European regions. As a basis for this, we clustered the EU population into eight mobility styles based on Eurobarometer data. The mobility styles – including, for example, “green cyclists” and “convenience drivers” – differed not only in their travel-related variables but also in their socio-economic background, IT-affinity, and life satisfaction, with green cyclist showing the highest life satisfaction and two car-oriented styles having the highest socio-economic resources. In a second step, the 28 EU member countries were clustered into six country clusters based on their representation of mobility styles. The country clusters indicate the existence of considerably different mobility cultures across the EU. Sub-regions can be identified that have highly different positions on the path towards sustainable mobility and therefore different requirements towards European platforms and support measures, e.g. for ‘Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans’. The country clusters can provide a starting point for future communication and targeting of European efforts in sustainable mobility.