Long-distance Leisure Research Articles

Tradable mobility credits for long-distance travel in Europe

There is an urgent need to devise policy instruments that will reduce GHG emissions to a sufficient extent in order to achieve the climate targets. Approximately 16% of all greenhouse gas emissions are generated by long-distance travel. Our objective is to estimate the impact of a Tradeable Mobility Credit (TMC) scheme − where the total emissions are fixed by design whereas the price is the outcome of travelers’ choices − will have on modal split and trip cancellation for long-distance leisure travel in Europe. To this end, we develop a market equilibrium model which accounts for travel and trading decisions. For our case study consisting of a travel demand of more than 300 million trips performed annually between 3,000 city-pair connections, the credit price that emerges in the market equilibrium state is 272€ per ton of CO2 under an emission reduction target of 30%. Due to the TMC, overall long-distance leisure travel demand is reduced by 20% and the share of air among the remaining trips decreases from 50 to 42% whereas the market share of rail increases from 23 to 26%. Modal shifts and trip cancellation rates vary greatly amongst OD-pair connections, depending on the local value-of-time and the extent of modal competition for the respective connection. Our findings contribute to the on-going debate surrounding instruments for stimulating sustainable (im)mobility, in particular in the context of the long-distance travel market.

Why Fly? Prudential Value, Climate Change, and the Ethics of Long-distance Leisure Travel

We argue that the prudential benefits of long-distance leisure travel can justify such trips even though there are strong and important reasons against long-distance flying. This is because prudential benefits can render otherwise impermissible actions permissible, and because, according to dominant theories about wellbeing, long-distance leisure travel provides significant prudential benefits. However, this ‘wellbeing argument’ for long-distance leisure travel must be qualified in two ways. First, because travellers are epistemically privileged with respect to knowledge about what is good for them, they must look critically at their own assessment of the prudential benefits of a trip. Second, the wellbeing argument is unlikely to support prudential arguments for long-distance leisure trips made by frequent flyers.

Car driving, air travel or more sustainable transport? Socio-psychological factors in everyday mobility and long-distance leisure travel

A decrease in unsustainable mobility is needed for everyday mobility as well as for leisure travel, here defined as overnight travel for longer distances, in order to reach decarbonisation goals. So far studies that explicitly target both are rare. The survey presented here examines socio-psychological and socio-economic variables that might influence individual use of more or less sustainable transport modes for everyday mobility and for long-distance leisure travel. It was conducted through an online questionnaire among a sample of n = 1982 residents in Germany, representative of the German population holding a drivers’ license in terms of age and gender. Use of transport mode (the dependent variable) was operationalized by contrasting (a) car travel (considered the unsustainable mode) versus other transport modes for everyday mobility and (b) plane trips (the unsustainable mode) versus other transport modes for long-distance leisure travel. Respondents reported past transport mode use and intentions for future transport. Independent variables were transport habits, self-efficacy beliefs, awareness of need, awareness of consequences, perceived behavioural control, personal and social norms, non-moral aspects, emotional consequences, further negative or positive consequences (i.e., the socio-psychological variables), and socio-economic variables. Together, the socio-psychological and socio-economic variables explained significant portions of the variance in the dependent variables. Socio-economic factors were stronger predictors for everyday mobility than for long-distance leisure travel. Perceived behavioural control was an overall consistent and strong predictor, increasing the likelihood of more sustainable travel mode use. We discuss entry points for interventions based on our findings.

Running for Health? Polish Long-Distance Leisure Runnersand the Problem of Health Literacy

Running for Health? Polish Long-Distance Leisure Runnersand the Problem of Health Literacy

Flights Dominate Travel Emissions of Young Urbanites

Transport is a key sector in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A consensus prevails on a causal relationship between distance to the city center and emissions from private transport, which has led to an emphasis on density in urban planning. However, several studies have reported a reverse association between the level of urbanity and emissions from long-distance leisure travel. Studies have also suggested that pro-environmental attitudes and climate change concerns are unrelated or positively related to emissions from long-distance travel. The goals of this case study were to find out the structure, levels, distribution, and predictors of GHG emissions from the local, domestic, and international travel of young adults of the Reykjavik Capital Region. A life cycle assessment (LCA) approach was utilized to calculate emissions, and the materials were collected with a map-based online survey. International leisure travel dominated the overall GHG emissions from personal travel regardless of residential location, modality style, or income level. A highly unequal distribution of emissions was found. A higher climate change awareness was found to predict higher GHG emissions from trips abroad. Emissions from leisure travel abroad were the highest in the city center, which was related to cosmopolitan attitudes among downtown dwellers.

Carbon Footprints and Consumer Lifestyles: An Analysis of Lifestyle Factors and Gap Analysis by Consumer Segment in Japan

Addressing the prevailing mode of high-carbon lifestyles is crucial for the transition towards a net-zero carbon society. Existing studies fail to fully investigate the underlining factors of unsustainable lifestyles beyond individual determinants nor consider the gaps between current footprints and reduction targets. This study examines latent lifestyle factors related to carbon footprints and analyzes gaps between decarbonization targets and current lifestyles of major consumer segments through exploratory factor analysis and cluster analysis. As a case study on Japanese households, it estimates carbon footprints of over 47,000 households using expenditure survey microdata, and identifies high-carbon lifestyle factors and consumer segments by multivariate regression analysis, factor analysis, and cluster analysis. Income, savings, family composition, house size and type, ownership of durables and automobiles, and work style were confirmed as determinants of high-footprint Japanese households, with eight lifestyles factors, including long-distance leisure, materialistic consumption, and meat-rich diets, identified as the main contributory factors. The study revealed a five-fold difference between lowest and highest footprint segments, with all segments overshooting the 2030 and 2050 decarbonization targets. The findings imply the urgent need for policies tailored to diverse consumer segments and to address the underlying causes of high-carbon lifestyles especially of high-carbon segments.

Impact of Automated Vehicles on Travel Mode Preference for Different Trip Purposes and Distances

Because of technology penetration in the transportation system, the automated vehicle (AV) is set to be a future mode of transport. Given the major implications of AVs, investigation of the potential impact of these vehicles on travel behavior is vital for a wide range of purposes, especially for policy making. In this study, we report the results of a stated preference survey distributed in the Netherlands in which respondents had to choose between conventional cars, public transportation, and AVs for different travel distances and trip purposes. Having collected information from 663 respondents we conducted an integrated study incorporating classic trip attributes (such as travel time and travel costs), attitudinal factors, and socio-economic variables to understand people’s choices. We studied a particular form of AVs, automated driving transport service (ADTS), which we defined as an automatically controlled door-to-door transport service provided by a vehicle with similar dimensions to a conventional car, albeit driverless. Results suggest that travelers’ mode preferences vary significantly for different travel distances and purposes. We found that conventional cars and public transportation are perceived as being the least attractive alternatives in relation to in-vehicle travel time on short- and long-distance commuting trips, respectively. Preference for ADTS lay between the car and public transportation, neither the best nor the worst alternative in all scenarios. Our findings suggest that ADTS adopters are likely to prefer this mode for long-distance leisure trips rather than short-distance commuting trips.

Exploring the latent constructs behind the use of ridehailing in California

Emerging transportation services are quickly changing the way individuals travel by expanding the set of transportation alternatives available for a trip, allowing for more flexibility in travel schedules and providing access to transportation without incurring the costs of auto ownership. Among the most controversial and rapidly growing shared-mobility services are ridehailing services, such as those offered by Uber and Lyft in the U.S. market. In this paper, we investigate the factors affecting the adoption of ridehailing through the estimation of a latent-class adoption model that captures the heterogeneity in individuals’ tastes and preferences, focusing on members of the millennial generation and the preceding Generation X. We present a 3-class adoption model that provides better goodness of fit and interpretability of the classes compared to other model specifications that were tested. The three distinct classes have expected sample shares of 28%, 34% and 38%, respectively, and can be characterized as follows: (1) a class that is largely composed of more highly-educated, independent (i.e. who have already established their household) millennials, who has the highest adoption rate. Among other factors, the adoption of ridehailing services for the members of this class is influenced by the frequency of long-distance leisure and business-related trips made by non-car modes. The adoption of ridehailing among the members of this group is higher if they live in high-quality transit neighborhoods. (2) The second highest adoption rate is observed among the members of the class that is mainly composed of affluent individuals living with their families who are either dependent millennials or older members of Generation X. The frequency of use of transportation-related smartphone apps and the share of long-distance leisure trips made by plane affect the adoption of ridehailing for the members of this class. The members of this class also tend to adopt ridehailing if they live in neighborhoods with higher land-use mix and if they have used taxi services within the past 12 months. (3) Finally, the lowest adoption rate is observed among the members of the last class, comprising the least affluent individuals with the lowest level of education. The members of this class are more likely to live in rural neighborhoods and they rarely use ridehailing. The adoption of ridehailing among the members of this class is affected by household income, the frequency of long-distance non-car business trips, and transit accessibility as well as the use of taxi and of carsharing.

Knowledge Cities and Transport Sustainability: The Link between the Travel Behavior of Knowledge Workers and Car-Related Job Perks

ABSTRACT This study analyzes the linkage between the travel behavior of knowledge workers and car-related job perks. The importance of this issue derives from the tendency of knowledge economy to concentrate in highly populated metropolitan regions. The analyzed data comprise 750 observations, retrieved from a survey among knowledge workers in Tel-Aviv. Results show that car-related job perks are associated with (1) high annual kilometrage, (2) increased commute by car, (3) long commute travel times, (4) high trip chaining frequency, and (5) many long-distance leisure trips. Results suggest that the development of sustainable knowledge-based cities should consider decoupling knowledge workers from car-related job perks.

A conceptual and methodological framework of leisure activity loyalty accommodating the travel context

As leisure travel continues to grow, it has become a critical subject for planners and decision-makers since it significantly impacts regional economic and social development as well as contributes to emission levels and congestion. Despite being a significant percentage of our travel, however, leisure travel behavior is still not very well understood. The goal of this article is to contribute to our understanding of leisure activity participation by considering leisure activity loyalty within the travel context. In particular, this study focuses on one specific dimension of travel context: travel extent (i.e., whether an individual participates in a leisure activity on a daily versus a long-distance basis). As such, this article first introduces a unified conceptual framework for measuring leisure activity loyalties within a travel context, based on two distinct dynamics of leisure loyalty behavior—destination attachment and activity involvement. Additionally, this article uses a unique 2001 NHTS dataset comprised of households’ daily and long-distance leisure activities to undertake a unique empirical analysis of five distinct leisure activities using the conceptual framework and a copula-based model methodology. The findings confirmed that households demonstrate significant loyalties to travel contexts across all leisure activities, especially resting and sightseeing.

Emergency preparedness and long-distance leisure catamaran sailing

Summary Introduction This prospective study aimed to provide insight into the incidents sustained by crewmembers and the medical briefing (e.g. medical history, vaccination) preceding transatlantic catamaran sailing. Synthesis of the facts Medical treatment for 24 mainly minor incidents and 10 check-up interventions were recorded. Injuries (4.5/1000 h) were incurred largely by stumbles (lacerations, contusion, haematoma) and cooking (burns). The most common illnesses (5.8/1000 h) were seasickness, sunburn and dietary disorders. Incidents were significantly dependent on sailing conditions. Conclusions Medical preparedness for long-distance leisure sailing requires knowledge of characteristic incidents in order to create safety policies and educate crewmembers and thus reduce risk.

A study of visitors' leisure travel behavior in the northwest territories of Canada

As long-distance leisure travel has shifted to being broader and more of an amalgam of different activity types, it has become critical for planners to understand what combinations of activities individuals will most likely participate in during a leisure trip. Accordingly, this study models travelers' participation in any combination of eight leisure trip activities. The analysis utilizes activity participation data from a tourist exit survey collected from the Northwest Territories in Canada. A Multivariate Binary Probit model system, with correlation across every pair of leisure activities, is estimated using a Composite Marginal Likelihood method. The empirical analysis results emphasize that travelers often combine specific sets of leisure activities together during tourism travel. However, which sets of activities get paired together depends greatly on travelers' experience, travel companions, and individual concerns.

Das 1950er Syndrom Die Epochenschwelle der Mensch-Umwelt-Beziehung zwischen Industriegesellschaft und Konsumgesellschaft

What are the historical roots of our environmental problems? Against the widely held opinion which considers the transition from renewable to non-renewable resources in the industrial revolution to be fundamental in this respect, it is argued that the transition from coal to cheap petroleum from the 1950's was far more decisive. The classical coal-based industrial society in Europe was rather sustainable compared to the petroleum-based consumer society today, though the existence of islands of pollution in areas of heavy industry should not be overlooked. Before the 1950's, agricultural production was mainly powered by biomass, urbanization was limited to areas opened up by public transportation, and food was bought in small retail shops within walking distance. The tradition of agricultural societies to curb consumption, to avoid the waste of energy and to recycle waste material was still alive. After 1950 Western Europe became a “Fordist” consumer society within two decades following the example of the United States of America. This involved the mechanization of housework, the mushroom growth of residential areas in the suburbs, and the rapid spread of automobiles: The large surplus of energy needed to sustain the rise of consumer societies outside the USA was mainly imported from the abundant oil-fields in the Gulf region, which had been discovered during World War Two. The energy transition led to a surge of pollution and environmental degradation that is traced back at the global level. The term of “1950 Syndrom” was coined to denote the entirety of these changes. In the coal-based economies the price of energy had risen with the average cost of life, because underground coal mining is labour-intensive. As a consequence it was profitable to steadily improve the energy efficiency in the production of goods and services. Due to the natural abundance of Middle East oil-fields, the low labour-intensity of petroleum production, and concessions favourable to multinational oil companies the price of energy declined in the long term in relationship to wages and to the average cost of life. This shift led to the erosion of energy-saving standards of production and consumption, it promoted a road-oriented reallocation of economic activities and residential patterns as well as long-distance leisure mobility. The constellation of interests resulting from this situation has blocked any attempts to make the life-style of Western societies more sustainable so far.

Beyond the Gravity Model

Gravity theory holds that more people will travel from a particular origin to a given destination than will travel to a more distant destination of the same type and size. Distance, according to gravity theory is a deterrent to travel and empirical evidence supports such a relationship in urban settings. This relationship is, however, hypothesized not to be true for long-distance leisure travel where distance may be a utility rather than a friction to be overcome.