Reduce Car Use Research Articles

Quantifying the Relation between Activity Pattern Complexity and Car Use Using a Partial Least Square Structural Equation Model

This paper studies the relationship between activity pattern complexity and car use using two multi-day surveys involving the same participants but collected just before and about one year after they relocated their workplace. Measurable characteristics related to two latent variables, namely activity pattern complexity, or trip chaining (e.g., number of activities done within and outside the home–work tour), and to car use (e.g., usage rate, distance travelled by car) were selected. The study shows that the methodology adopted, partial least square structural equation modelling, quantifies the relation between the two variables, and is robust towards changes in important contextual characteristics of the individuals, namely workplace location. The findings indicate that the number of activities chained to commuting travels strongly impact mode choice and, in particular, car use. The paper also shows that chaining non-work-related activities has a stronger impact on car use. The results of this study suggest that planning and management solutions aimed at reducing car use, but focusing only on the commuting trip while neglecting the impact of other daily activities, may be less effective than expected.

InterMob: a 24-month randomised controlled trial comparing the effectiveness of an intervention including behavioural change techniques and free transport versus an intervention including air pollution awareness-raising on car use reduction among regular car users living in Grenoble, France

BackgroundFrequent car use contributes to health and environmental issues such as air pollution, climate change and obesity. Active and sustainable mobility (bike, walk, public transport, car sharing) may address these issues. Different strategies have been implemented in past research, involving hard levers, aimed at modifying the economical or geographical context (e.g., free public transport), and soft levers, aimed at modifying psychological processes (e.g., personalised transport advice). However, few studies have combined both hard and soft levers. In addition, few have used robust methodologies (e.g., randomised controlled trials), followed behavioural changes in the long-term, and been anchored in behaviour change theories. InterMob aims to address these limits by implementing a 24-month randomised controlled trial including hard and soft levers. The objectives of InterMob are to a) evaluate the effectiveness of an experimental arm versus an active controlled arm, and b) identify the processes of mobility change.MethodsRegular car users living in Grenoble (N = 300) will be recruited and randomised to one of the two arms. The experimental arm consists in a six-month intervention combining hard levers (free access to transport/bikes), and soft levers (e.g., personalised transport advice). The control arm consists in a six-month intervention aimed at raising awareness on air pollution and its health effects. Both arms will include eight evaluation weeks (spread out over 24 months) based on a GPS, an accelerometer, and a pollution sensor. Moreover, participants will complete mobility logbooks and surveys measuring psychological constructs, socio-economical, and socio-spatial characteristics.DiscussionInterMob will assess the effectiveness of two interventions aimed at reducing car use within regular car users in the short-, mid- and long-term. Moreover, InterMob will allow to better understand the psychological processes of behaviour change, and the socio-economical and geographical conditions under which the intervention is efficient in reducing car use. Finally, the benefits of mobility change in terms of physical activity, quality of life, and exposure to pollution will be quantified.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov: NCT05096000 on 27/10/2021 (retrospectively registered).

An investigation of the motivators and barriers of smartphone app incentives for encouraging cycling

Reducing car use through positive intervention strategies using smartphone apps has attracted a great deal of attention. A common intervention strategy is bicycle use, which is cost-effective, fast, clean, and healthy. However, the potential effects of positive interventions on cycling behaviour have not been well explored. This study builds up a real-world lab by using the SMART Mobility smartphone application to test the effect of interventions. Participants are recruited through the app and their travel data is recorded by the app. Participants’ privacy is protected in the app and experimental concepts are reduced so that the real behaviours can be further reached and analysed. Four types of cycling-related challenges were designed in the app and provided to the users to adopt every month. A mixed logit explanatory model for behavioural change is developed to explain how the behavioural change is related to travel patterns, intervention types and other mediating factors and the possible moderators. More than 1,000 users from the Dutch region of Twente used the smart app from March 2017 to June 2018. We found that challenge type and travel pattern impacted behaviour changes differently. Overall, the cycling challenges were effective in encouraging people to use bikes instead of cars. However, the challenges also had the effect of causing additional bike usage without a modal shift. The findings from the study can help with intervention design decisions.

Characteristics of Everyday Leisure Trips by Car in Sweden – Implications for Sustainability Measures

In search for measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transport, insights into the characteristics of all sorts of trips and specifically trips by car are needed. This paper focuses on everyday leisure trips for social and recreational purposes. Travel behaviour for these purposes is analysed considering individual and household factors as well as properties of the trip, based on Swedish national travel survey data. The analysis reveals that everyday leisure trips are often of joint character and that the average distance travelled per person and day increases with, for example, income, cohabitation, children in the household and residence in rural areas. The result also shows that the studied characteristics vary between studied trip purposes, influencing the sustainability potential of a reduction in car use and suggested measures. For instance, the largest share of passenger mileage comes from social trips, whereas trips for exercise and outdoor life have the largest share of car trips below 5 km. Several characteristics indicate difficulties in transferring trips by car to, for example, bicycle or public transport due to convenience, economy, start times, company etc. The study indicates that there is a need to take a broader view of the effective potential.

Characteristics of Everyday Leisure Trips by Car in Sweden – Implications for Sustainability Measures

In search for measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transport, insights into the characteristics of all sorts of trips and specifically trips by car are needed. This paper focuses on everyday leisure trips for social and recreational purposes. Travel behaviour for these purposes is analysed considering individual and household factors as well as properties of the trip, based on Swedish national travel survey data. The analysis reveals that everyday leisure trips are often of joint character and that the average distance travelled per person and day increases with, for example, income, cohabitation, children in the household and residence in rural areas. The result also shows that the studied characteristics vary between studied trip purposes, influencing the sustainability potential of a reduction in car use and suggested measures. For instance, the largest share of passenger mileage comes from social trips, whereas trips for exercise and outdoor life have the largest share of car trips below 5 km. Several characteristics indicate difficulties in transferring trips by car to, for example, bicycle or public transport due to convenience, economy, start times, company etc. The study indicates that there is a need to take a broader view of the effective potential.

Shifting to more sustainable mobility styles: A latent transition approach

Cities around the world make efforts to reduce car use and its negative consequences but even in cycling cities, mobility behaviour is still dominated by car use. This paper examines the effect of life events, changed resources and attitude-behaviour incongruency on changes in people's mobility style. The paper is based on a longitudinal survey including people who participated 2–3 times within a 2.5-year period. Applying latent transition analysis based on participants' mobility attitudes and behaviour, we identified 5 distinct mobility classes: one functional and one enthusiastic car user class; one car-prone and one car-aversive cycling class and a public transport class. Free-floating car sharing subscription had an effect on initial class membership but not on transition probability. However, shifts were significantly related to age and gender, changes in income and place of residence. Yet, most effects disappeared when car ownership was included in the latent transition model. Once people end up in car-centred mobility styles, a voluntary transition back seems difficult to achieve.

From car use reduction to ride‐sharing: The relevance of moral and environmental identity

AbstractCar use contributes significantly to environmental pollution, leading people to rethink their transport habits. Previous studies on car use reduction relied on established theories related to values and self‐regulation to examine this decision. In this paper, we offer an alternative approach and examine the intention to reduce car use through the prism of identity theory, and propose environmental and moral identities, together with environmental concern, as the main antecedents to the importance of car use reduction and intention to reduce car use. Further, we consider ride‐sharing intention as an outcome of the decision to reduce car use. The proposed conceptual model is tested on a sample of consumers from the United Kingdom using an online consumer panel. The results offer partial support for the influence of moral identity, environmental identity, and environmental concern on the importance to reduce car use and intention. The links among the importance of and intention to reduce car use, along with ride‐sharing intentions, are supported. Finally, managerial implications are discussed, and future research directions are suggested.

Why people fail to bike the talk: Car dependence as a barrier to cycling

Antecedent conditions of cycling have been extensively studied, yet barriers that prevent individuals from choosing bicycle transportation are less known. The present study, conducted on a sample of individuals who were both cyclists and drivers (N = 280), investigated whether dependence on car transportation significantly reduces cycling frequency. It also assessed the predictive validity of a larger set of cycling determinants that included moral, objective environmental, demographic and car-related variables. Responses were analyzed using a structural equation modeling approach. Results show that moral considerations do little to predict cycling frequency and that car-related factors such as perceived behavioral control to reduce car use (β = 0.28) and car use habits (β = -0.27) have the strongest predictive power. Objective environmental factors such as temperature (β = -0.13) and altitude (β = -0.15) or demographic factors such as gender (β = 0.19) were also significant predictors of cycling frequency. The present study highlights a new perspective of understanding cycling behavior and pleads for the inclusion of car-related factors in its future conceptualizations and interventions to encourage it.

Adopting Mobility-as-a-Service: An empirical analysis of end-users’ experiences

Despite widespread interest, empirical research on how end-users perceive and use Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) is scarce. To address this knowledge gap, this article analyzes the end-user process of adopting a MaaS service entitled EC2B, which was launched in Gothenburg, Sweden, in the spring of 2019. The contribution to the MaaS literature is three-fold. Firstly, the article provides insight into potential end-users by describing the characteristics and motives of the studied group of adopters. Secondly, it improves the understanding of the potential effects of MaaS by outlining how the EC2B service was used and how it influenced travel behavior. Thirdly, the article informs strategies for facilitating MaaS adoption by outlining what types of drivers and barriers the end-users faced during different stages of the adoption process. The reported findings underscore previous assertions that MaaS is much more than just an app and a subscription plan and highlight a mutually reinforcing relationship between the introduction of MaaS and the implementation of policies aimed at reducing car use.

A dozen effective interventions to reduce car use in European cities: Lessons learned from a meta-analysis and transition management

Transitioning to fossil-free transport and reducing car use are necessary to meet European and national climate goals. Cities are promising leverage points to facilitate system transitions by promoting local innovation and policy experimentation. Building on transition management, we developed a knowledge base for the implementation of transition experiments to reduce city-level car use. From screening nearly 800 peer-reviewed studies and case studies, including in-depth analysis of 24 documents that met quality criteria and quantitatively estimated car use reduction, we identify 12 intervention types combining different measures and policy instruments that were effective in reducing car use in European cities. The most effective at reducing overall car use were the Congestion Charge, Parking & Traffic Congrol, and Limited Traffic Zone. Most interventions were led by local government, planned and decided in collaboration with different urban stakeholders. We evaluated the potential of the identified intervention types to be implemented in a pilot study of Lund, Sweden, using three criteria from Transition Management of novelty, feasibility, and suitability, as assessed by interviews with local experts. We recommend three transition experiments to reduce local car use in Lund: Parking and Traffic Control, Workplace Parking Charge, and Mobility Services for Commuters. We suggest practitioners follow our method to identify effective and locally suitable interventions to reduce car use, and future research quantify the effectiveness of interventions to reduce car use using the standardised outcome measure of daily passenger kilometres travelled by car.

Analyzing the impact of Low Emission Zones on modal shift

• The main goal is to identify key factors determining modal shift caused by a LEZ. • “Madrid Central” LEZ triggered a notable modal shift towards sustainable modes. • The highest modal shift rates are observed among car users. • Modal shift is mainly explained by mobility habits and socio-demographic variables. • Environmental awareness and political ideology do not play a key role. Although Low Emission Zones (LEZs) have been adopted to address the environmental challenge of improving air quality in urban contexts worldwide, limited attention has been paid to studying their effects on promoting a shift to greener modes. This paper aims to gain insight into that issue by studying the case of “Madrid Central”, a LEZ recently implemented in Spain. A survey campaign was conducted to explore changes in modal shift declared by respondents due to the LEZ implementation. Based on that, a discrete choice analysis was conducted to identify key factors determining changes in the modal share after implementing the LEZ. The results show the high impact of the LEZ on decreasing car use and promoting cleaner modes thereby contributing to reduce air pollution. The paper concludes that modal shift is mainly associated with socio-demographic variables, individual perceptions towards LEZs and mobility habits. By contrast, attitudinal variables were not found relevant for explaining modal shift. The effectiveness of “Madrid Central” in reducing car use provides policy-makers with lessons and a guidelines for implementing LEZs. Given the scarcity of research about that specific topic, the results are scalable to other experiences in the international context.

Key Elements of Mobility Apps for Improving Urban Travel Patterns: A Literature Review

In recent decades cities have applied a number of policy measures aimed at reducing car use and increasing public transportation (PT) patronage. Persuasive strategies to change mobility behavior present notable limitations in economic and logistical terms and have only minor impacts. The smartphone has emerged as a promising tool to overcome these challenges, as it can host persuasion strategies through mobility apps. Simultaneously, Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) schemes could open up new possibilities for addressing both sustainability goals and the needs of urban travelers. This paper carries out a literature review to identify the key elements of mobility apps that foster more sustainable travelers’ choices. The findings show that some persuasive strategies such as eco-feedback, rewards or social challenges are effective because they are well received by users. From the users’ point of view, the perceived barriers (e.g., usability, privacy) relate negatively to app adoption, and it is considered useful to include functional needs such as real-time information (e.g., to avoid congestion), cost savings (e.g., customized multimodal packages), comfort (e.g., crowding on public transport) or health (e.g., calories burned). We have found that a proper design of multimodal travel packages based on (i) financial incentives and (ii) environmental awareness, could help increase public transport patronage and reduce private car use.

Knowledge, perceived potential and trust as determinants of low- and high-impact pro-environmental behaviours

Changes in household consumption patterns to low-carbon alternatives are needed to decrease global greenhouse gas emissions. Accurate perceptions about the mitigation potential of different behaviours can help consumers to reduce their emissions. With a sample of N = 547 Swiss participants, we analysed to what extent participants correctly judged the mitigation potential of different behaviours. We found that the mitigation potential of certain behaviours, such as switching to a sustainable diet, was underestimated, while the mitigation potential of other behaviours, such as installing efficient light bulbs, was overestimated. Participants correctly judged reducing car use and avoiding a transatlantic flight to have a strong mitigation potential. By differentiating between low- and high-impact behaviours, we found that higher levels of objective knowledge positively predicted intentions to engage in high-impact mitigation behaviours and negatively predicted intentions to engage in low-impact mitigation behaviours, while higher perceived potential, higher levels of trust in climate scientists and less perceived effort predicted the willingness to engage in both low- and high-impact mitigation behaviours. We conclude with recommendations on how the uptake of high-impact behaviours can be fostered.

Revisiting the interactions between bus service quality, car ownership and mode use: A case study in Changzhou, China

The State Council of China hopes to alleviate traffic congestion by implementing the bus priority policy. However, the policy consequences have not been satisfactory. Whether a good bus service can significantly reduce car use while increasing bus use is a confusing issue, hereto this study re-examines the interactions among bus service quality, car ownership, car use and bus use by constructing a SEM model. A sample of 334 individuals in Changzhou is used in the study. Results show that although high-quality bus service can cause a decrease in car use, the total negative effect of bus service quality on car use is far less than the positive effect of car ownership. Thus, when car ownership is growing rapidly, only a comprehensive and substantial improvement in bus service can alleviate and ultimately eliminate the enormous pressure on urban traffic resulted from the increasing car ownership. This study provides empirical evidence to explain why traffic congestion is still serious with the strong support in public transport from governments and gives policy implications on how to control urban traffic.

Integrating Planned Behavior and Stage-of-Change into a Cycling Campaign

A cycling campaign was assessed that used three different nudging conditions to progress people’s stage of motivation to make travel behavioral changes. The results of three waves of survey data showed that this cycling campaign generally strengthened their stage of motivation to reduce car use and that this stage-change, in turn, reduced actual car use while increasing bike use. It was observed that an improvement of cognitive psychological mechanisms was positively related to people’s motivation to change. Although the effect of the campaign was stronger just after it had ended (Wave 2), a reduction in car use, an increase in bike use, and an increase in the stage of motivation were still found three months after the campaign had ended. This is important as it shows that effects favoring sustainable travel last beyond the timeframe of the intervention. We conclude that travel interventions should aim to integrate processes that emphasize cognitive psychological mechanisms and people’s motivation to change as these drive a sustainable behavioral change.

Analysis of car ownership motivation in Tokyo for sustainable mobility service and urban development

Recently, several big cities have been planning to ban private cars from city centers to reduce car use and ownership in urban areas. As an alternative, mobility services are expected to provide residents and visitors with the benefits of mobility beyond private cars. However, the development of mobility services has not led to a decrease in car ownership. In such a period of transformation, structurally understanding the essential factors affecting car ownership becomes an important research theme.In this study, several important findings were obtained by analyzing the motive structure of car ownership in 23 wards of Tokyo using structural equation modelling. The results showed that the strength of the emotional factor as a utility of owning a car was more than twice that of the convenience factor. Moreover, in the case that the focus was only on the convenience factor, the secondary utility of the car was considered to be more important than the primary utility of the means of transportation.These findings explained why the current mobility services have not appealed to private car users. Furthermore, since these results are output of structural relationship with social attributes and the economic awareness of respondents, this framework can be effectively used for policy design and alternative mobility service planning to reconstruct the urban transportation system.

Air pollution policies in European cities: single-focused and holistic solutions

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Background and Aim Poor air quality is recognized as a major environmental health problem requiring immediate action. What may be still lacking attention, however, is how the path taken to reach improvements matters for health. Air pollution policies can be narrowly focused on reaching concentration targets with no further benefits to society, or can deliver health co-benefits, such as physical activity promotion or noise reduction when reducing car use or promoting active travel. Some cities may take the opportunity of tackling air pollution to deliver much more broadly on health improvements. This paper examines the balance of single vs holistic policy focus in current air pollution strategies adopted across a range of UK and German cities. METHODS: A framework was developed to categorize air quality policies as holistic or single-focused. Local Clean Air Plans from 2015 onwards were analyzed for a selection of nine UK and nine German cities. The importance given to each type of approach was estimated by counting the number of distinct policies in each camp, weighted by considerations of funding allocation and level of concreteness (e.g. implementation schedule). RESULTS:The focus on holistic approaches ranged from 30% (in Frankfurt am Main) to 87% (in Stuttgart) in the selected German cities, with an average across cities of 68% of the policy strategies taking on a holistic approach (vs 32% single-focused). In contrast, UK cities’ focus on holistic policies ranged from 9% (in London) to 79% (in Cardiff), with an average of 46%. CONCLUSIONS:While some UK cities, such as London, have been heralded as exemplary in their approach to tackling air pollution, they seem to often miss an opportunity to tackle health more holistically. German cities on the other hand generally seem to have espoused broader concepts of health promotion in their approach to air pollution mitigation. KEYWORDS: Air pollution, Health co-benefits, Particulate matter, Policy, Traffic-related, cities

Investigation of Employee Related Airport Ground Access Strategies from a Post-COVID Perspective

Until recently, addressing the environmental externalities associated with the use of the private car and single occupancy vehicles has been the focus of the airport ground access policies worldwide. However, with the emerging unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, which have already changed the way we live, work, and travel, encouraging a change in commuter behavior has become even more important. This has necessitated that existing strategies be reconsidered in favor of adapting to a highly uncertain “COVID-19 world.” Historically, there has been a dearth of literature relating to airport employees’ ground access even though as a group employees represent an important segment of airport users with complex access requirements. This paper therefore focuses on airport employee related airport ground access strategies considering an emerging understanding of the future impacts of COVID-19 on global air travel. Pre-COVID strategies are investigated by conducting a documentary analysis of the most recent ground access strategies of 27 UK airports. The findings reveal that airport ground access strategies were mainly focused on setting targets and producing policy measures in favor of reducing car use and increasing the use of more sustainable transport modes including public transport, car sharing, and active travel (walking, cycling). However, measures encouraging public transport and car sharing will be more difficult to implement because of social distancing and fear of proximity to others. Instead, initiatives encouraging remote working, active travel, and improved staff awareness will be at the forefront of the future ground access strategy development.

Mobility as a service (MaaS) – Going somewhere or nowhere?

Noting the continuing lack of agreement as to how the concept of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) should be defined, this short topical issues paper offers an evaluation of the extent to which MaaS faces a very uncertain future. While MaaS remains a compelling concept, without evidence of MaaS contributing to sustainability goals, the multimodal future may be one of contactless deep linked customer-oriented Apps offering potential customer convenience but with no provision for bundling mobility services. The latter has been shown in the Sydney MaaS trial to be the source of positive societal outcomes such a reduced car use and emissions. A MaaS Champion with a proactive approach, led by government, seems essential for any future positive outcomes.

Investigation of Interaction between Age and Gender Effects of Car Users by using Log-Linear Model: A Bayesian Inference Approach

The growth in car ownership, demand for personal mobility and traffic congestion all generate negative impacts on the environment. In addition to adverse impacts, car use contributes to urban sprawl, unhealthy micro environments and increased accidents. In western countries, chronic traffic congestion due to increasing travel demand resulting from economic growth is placing governments under pressure to promote and incentivise mode shift to non-motorised modes. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the relationships of car users' perceptions and attitudes with age-gender factors to investigate respondents' willingness to reduce car use for the sake of the environment. A log linear model for categorical data was developed using Bayesian inference approach. Models were constructed separately with and without interaction between age and gender effect. Attitudinal data from British Social Attitudes (BSA) surveys from 2011 to 2014 were used in this study. The application of the Bayesian inference approach to the BSA data demonstrated useful properties shared by population groups. The results indicate that significant differences exist among different age and gender groups. The knowledge is useful to policy makers and transport managers in designing targeted solutions to specific population groups. The outcome of this research will be vital from a policy-making perspective, as appropriate clusters of the population can be targeted when implementing sustainability policies.