Entering the regime of automobility: car ownership and use by novice drivers in Iceland

This article investigates how young individuals access the regime of automobility. Instead of looking at the systemic nature of automobility, the article concentrates on its human component. Access to cars by young people in the greater Reykjavík area, and the shift in modal choice that occurs when they start driving, was investigated with a survey among high school students that yielded 553 answers. The results show that young residents in the capital area are fully aware of the costs of car-based automobility. Their near-universal move to cars when they enter driving age reflects the conditions of this regime. Yet they are also ambivalent about their position within the regime. While most previous studies of novice drivers have centred on road safety issues, this study shows the need to consider the cultural and social aspects of young people driving. This can lead to a deeper understanding of the modal shift that perpetuates car-based automobility, which is an important issue for transport planning.     

Using the car in a fragile rural tourist destination: a social representations perspective

The visitor experience of place is inextricably linked to our ability to travel around an area at will, yet this mobility creates many problems especially in scenic rural areas of the UK. The study presented here attempts to unravel visitors’ experiences of mobility using Moscovici’s social representations approach. Travel diaries were employed to explore visitors’ transport choices and mobility patterns during the peak season in Purbeck, Dorset, UK. Analysis focuses on how such patterns reflect a social representation of mobility and the implications this has for visitor travel at destinations.     

Airport ground access and private car use: a segmentation analysis

The increasing scale of, and demand for, civil air transport world-wide has resulted in a greater volume of people travelling to and from airports. The vast majority of these journeys are made by private cars, which has led to traffic congestion and raised levels of air pollution in and around airports. Subsequently, airports are re-evaluating their approach to ground access mode choice and considering how to reduce the reliance on private cars. Based on a survey of passengers at Manchester Airport in the UK, attitude statements pertaining to psychological constructs from the Theory of Planned Behaviour and the Norm-Activation Theory, combined with key factors relating to the passenger’s trip, are used to identify eight behaviourally distinct groups of passengers with varying potential to reduce their private car use. Two of these groups, described as the Conflicted Greens and the Pessimistic Lift Seekers, are identified as having the greatest potential to reduce private car use to airports. Analysis reveals the need for decision makers to address the existing attitude–behaviour ‘gap’ that can prevent positive environmental attitudes being translated into the use of more sustainable modes, as well as tackling the perceived difficulty some passengers associate with using these modes.     

An exploratory analysis of relationships between socioeconomic,land use,activity participation variables and travel patterns

This paper aims to find relations between the socioeconomic characteristics, activity participation, land use patterns and travel behavior of the residents in the São Paulo Metropolitan Area (SPMA) by using Exploratory Multivariate Data Analysis (EMDA) techniques. The variables influencing travel pattern choices are investigated using: (a) Cluster Analysis (CA), grouping and characterizing the Traffic Zones (TZ), proposing the independent variable called Origin Cluster and, (b) Decision Tree (DT) to find a priori unknown relations among socioeconomic characteristics, land use attributes of the origin TZ and destination choices. The analysis was based on the origin–destination home-interview survey carried out in SPMA in 1997. The DT application revealed the variables of greatest influence on the travel pattern choice. The most important independent variable considered by DT is car ownership, followed by the Use of Transportation “credits” for Transit tariff, and, finally, activity participation variables and Origin Cluster. With these results, it was possible to analyze the influence of a family income, car ownership, position of the individual in the family, use of transportation “credits” for transit tariff (mainly for travel mode sequence choice), activities participation (activity sequence choice) and Origin Cluster (destination/travel distance choice).     

Heterogeneity in physical activity participation of older adults: A latent class analysis

Participation in leisure and transport-related physical activities is generally viewed as the main means of increasing overall physical activity levels of older adults. The success of any intervention strategy depends on how well the strategy fits older people's physical activity patterns. This study therefore examines heterogeneity in physical activity patterns of older adults and the relationships between these patterns and socio-demographic and neighborhood environmental characteristics. This is done using a latent class multinomial logit model based on one-week diary data collected on 363 Dalian Chinese older adults aged 60 and over in 2017. The results show that two segments of physical activity patterns of older adults can be identified: leisure physical activities oriented and both transport-related and leisure physical activities oriented. Age, physical limitation and having grandchildren in the household have an important influence on physical activity patterns of older people. However, there are no significant relationships between physical activity patterns and various environmental characteristics, except accessibility of local shops, condition of footpaths and safety from crime. The empirical findings have implications for the development of tailored interventions to maintain or promote physical activity of older adults.     

Determinants of car ownership in rural and urban areas: a pseudo-panel analysis

This paper examines the factors determining car ownership for households living in rural and urban areas. A dynamic car ownership model is estimated using a pseudo-panel approach, based on data from Family Expenditure Surveys in the UK for 1982–1995. The results show that rural households' car ownership is far less sensitive to motoring costs than that of their urban counterparts. The implication of these results is that general increases in the costs of car transport would pose a considerable economic burden for rural households, and that other area-specific transport measures may be more suitable, particularly from an equity point of view.     

Exploring the expectations of transport professionals concerning the future automobility system: Visions,challenges, and transitions

A mixture of potentially significant changes in technology, commercial structures, and social practices is currently entering the automobility system. These changes have the potential to combine together and lead to a substantial shift in the manner in which society fuels, owns, and makes use of its cars. This paper reports a research project that made use of focus groups to examine the narratives of British transport professionals concerning forthcoming developments in the automobility system. Specific attention was given to what the expectations for future change in automobility are, if these changes will likely lead to a transition toward a more sustainable system and the manner in which a transition of this nature could be facilitated. The oral testimony offered during the focus groups has been assessed qualitatively using thematic analysis. The results suggest that there is a commonly held view that the automobility system is entering a stage of flux, which may lead to considerable changes in system configuration. However, the attainment of a sustainable transition for the system will likely be inhibited by a series of institutional, societal, and physical barriers, which may restrict system developments.     

The replication and reduction of automobility: Findings from Aotearoa New Zealand

In this paper, we examine the factors that contribute to the replication or reduction of automobility amongst young adults. Semi-structured interviews conducted in Aotearoa New Zealand, with 51 drivers and non-drivers, aged 18–35 years old, form the empirical material. The findings build upon previous research and extend understandings of how seven explanatory factors; perceptual, value and preference, social, built environment, economic, legal/policy and technological, work both to continue the current automobility paradigm, and to challenge it by adopting alternative mobilities. We use the Energy Cultures Framework as an analytical tool to explore the ways through which materialites, norms, practices, and external context can replicate or reduce participation in the hegemonic mobility paradigm. This approach offers useful insights into the interactions between what the research participants think, have and do, and how this is resulting in a reduction in automobility norms amongst some younger people. It also identifies and highlights potential opportunities to leverage upon current change trends to assist a systemic transition away from automobility towards a culture of multi-mobilities.     

Interdependences between household residential and car ownership behavior: a life history analysis

Once a transportation system is built or a land-use policy is carried out, it influences people’s travel behavior and their lives for a long time period. It is therefore important for policy makers to understand people’s decisions on travel behavior and lives over a longer time period. However, little has been known about the interdependences between life domains, especially over the life course (i.e., biographical interdependences) in the context of residential and car ownership behavior. To fill this gap, this study aims to clarify households’ biographical interdependences relating to residential and car ownership biographies by explicitly incorporating the influence of household structure and employment/education biographies. Biography is defined based on a general concept of mobility that indicates a change occurring in a life domain. For this purpose, a Web-based life history survey was conducted in November 2010 and 1000 households living in major Japanese cities provided valid data. Aggregate analysis and exhaustive CHAID analysis were carried out, focusing on the occurrence times of mobilities in each biography. Results confirm obvious two-way cause–effect relationships over the life course between residential and car ownership biographies that are further influenced by household structure and employment/education biographies. Especially, not only short-term but also long-term state dependence and future expectations within and across life domains are clarified. Household structure and employment/education biographies are found to be more influential on residential biography than car ownership biography. Though residential biography is seen to be more influential on car ownership biography, the other two biographies also play an important role in explaining the car ownership mobility decision. All these findings suggest the necessity of developing intra-domain and inter-domain biographical interdependence models with flexible structures that capture the influences of state dependence and future expectations over different time scales in the life course in a unified framework.     

Factors influencing social satisfaction and loneliness: a path analysis

Social networks have increasingly received attention in transportation research. However, more subjective aspects of the social network, such as social satisfaction and loneliness hardly received any attention in travel behavior research, whereas these aspects are very important in shaping quality of life. In this study, a path analysis is used to analyze the relationships between personal characteristics, neighborhood characteristics, travel behavior, social interactions, social satisfaction and loneliness. The analyses are based on data collected in Eindhoven and surrounding towns in the Netherlands in a survey among 177 respondents. Results show relationships between mobility and social aspects. They indicate that frequency of walking affects social satisfaction, frequency of cycling affects the number of social interactions and car ownership affects loneliness. Regarding the neighborhood characteristics, interesting results are found as well. The percentage of non-western ethnic minorities in the neighborhood is found to negatively affect social satisfaction, social cohesion is found to affect the number of social interactions and place attachment is found to affect loneliness.     

Causes and effects between attitudes,the built environment and car kilometres: A longitudinal analysis

Travel-related attitudes are believed to affect the connections between the built environment and travel behaviour. Previous studies found supporting evidence for the residential self-selection hypothesis which suggests that the impact of the built environment on travel behaviour could be overestimated when attitudes are not accounted for. However, this hypothesis is under scrutiny as the reverse causality hypothesis, which implies a reverse direction of influence from the built environment towards attitudes, is receiving increased attention in recent research. This study tests both directions of influence by means of cross-sectional and longitudinal structural equation models. GPS tracking is used to assess changes in travel behaviour in terms of car kilometres travelled. The outcomes show stronger reverse causality effects than residential self-selection effects and that land-use policies significantly reduce car kilometres travelled. Moreover, the longitudinal models show that the built environment characteristics provide a better explanation for changes in car kilometres travelled than the travel-related attitudes. This contradicts the cross-sectional analysis where associations between car kilometres travelled and travel-related attitudes were stronger. This highlights the need for more longitudinal studies in this field.     

The motorcycle to passenger car ownership ratio and economic growth: A cross-country analysis

Cross-country statistics have revealed steady growth in the number of motorcycles in many less advanced economic countries (LAEC) with emerging economies due to increased urbanisation and personal wealth. In contrast, an opposite trend is occurring in advanced economic countries (AEC), with cars replacing motorcycles as income grows. Motor vehicle crashes and injuries are an inevitable consequence of a high motorcycle population. This study focused on understanding how economic growth affects the motorcycle to passenger car (MPC) ownership ratio and what factors underlie this relationship. The data used in this analysis contained a sample of 80 countries at various levels of economic developmental growth over the 48-year period between 1963 and 2010. The results pointed to an inverted U-shaped relationship between the MPC ownership ratio and the per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Generally, the MPC ownership ratio increased with income at a lower level and decreased with income at a higher level. The evidence indicated that urbanisation, the total road length per thousand population, and a proxy for purchasing power with regard to vehicle purchases were the underlying factors that contributed to this relationship.     

Understanding the benefits of social tourism: Linking participation to subjective well‐being and quality of life

This paper aims to explore the relationship between well‐being, quality of life and holiday participation among low‐income families in the UK. There have been very studies that have examined quality of life (QOL) and subjective well‐being in relation to tourism and none that have attempted to apply measures to assess the benefits of holidays for those people who are generally excluded from participation. This is important in relation to social tourism because of the fundamental need to develop mechanisms to evaluate the impact of charitable funding for supporting low‐income families' participation in holidaymaking. This study evaluates the types of reasons given for financial assistance in applications to the Family Holiday Association including follow‐up research with a sample of successful applicants on the perceived benefits of the holiday, including questions on QOL factors. The findings are limited in scope but do indicate that increases in QOL were reported among low‐income families. The paper concludes by arguing that further research on adapted well‐being and QOL measures be applied to tourism consumption. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

COVID-19 and its long-term effects on activity participation and travel behaviour: A multiperspective view

This paper discusses possible long-term effects of COVID-19 on activity-travel behaviour. Making use of theories and concepts from economics, psychology, sociology, and geography, this work argues that lasting effects can be expected, and specifically that peak demand among car and public transport users may be lower than if the pandemic would never have happened. The magnitude of such effects at the aggregate level in terms of the total travel time of all inhabitants of a country or state is likely limited. Such lasting effects imply that additional infrastructure extensions to reduce congestion on roads and crowding in public transport might have a lower benefit-cost ratio than would be the case without these impacts. The paper discusses avenues for future research, including work on the role of attitude changes, the formation of new habitual behaviour, new social norms and practices, well-being effects, and the role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).     

The impact of car ownership and public transport usage on cancer screening coverage: Empirical evidence using a spatial analysis in England

A spatial analysis has been conducted in England, with the aim to examine the impact of car ownership and public transport usage on breast and cervical cancer screening coverage. District-level cancer screening coverage data (in proportions) and UK census data have been collected and linked. Their effects on cancer screening coverage were modelled by using both non-spatial and spatial models to control for spatial correlation.Significant spatial correlation has been observed and thus spatial model is preferred. It is found that increased car ownership is significantly associated with improved breast and cervical cancer screening coverage. Public transport usage is inversely associated with breast cancer screening coverage; but positively associated with cervical cancer screening. An area with higher median age is associated with higher screening coverage. The effects of other socio-economic factors such as deprivation and economic activity have also been explored with expected results. Some regional differences have been observed, possibly due to unobserved factors.Relevant transport and public health policies are thus required for improved coverage. While restricting access to cars may lead to various benefits in public health, it may also result in worse cancer screening uptake. It is thus recommended that careful consideration should be taken before implementing policy interventions.     

Work,travel and home: a study of remembrance activity

A quantitative study conducted in the Australian regional city of Ballarat resulted in a sample which had a high proportion of people with a personal connection to war and remembrance through family. This connection was reflected in higher levels of visitation to local, state and overseas war memorials. A factor analysis suggested that some kinds of remembrance could be grouped into a three part structure based upon creative activities of Work such as writing history, volunteer and paid military work and collecting, Travel to overseas and domestic memorials and informal appreciation of artefacts at Home. The Home group represents the most frequent form of remembrance, practiced at a social scale and which results from the creative activity of individuals. The study therefore supports the notion that individual and social remembrance and memory are closely linked and can be identified with patterns of travel. A potentially large group of people who appeared to have little interest in war remembrance was also identified.     

UK airport employee car parking: The role of a charge?

Airports employ significant numbers of workers who favour using the private car for the journey to work because of the location of many facilities and the times they need to travel. At the same time official policies for congestion and environmental reasons seek to limit car use. This can pose parking problems for the airports. This note looks at some of the particular issues confronting UK airport management when trying to conform to official policies while at the same time meeting the needs of their workers and the role charging may play in the solution.     

Exploratory data analysis of activity diary data: a space-time GIS approach

Study of human activities in space and time has been an important research topic in transportation research. Limitations of conventional statistical methods for analysis of individual-level human activities have encouraged spatiotemporal analysis of human activity patterns in a space-time context. Based on Hägerstrand’s time geography, this study presents a space-time GIS approach that is capable of representing and analyzing spatiotemporal activity data at the individual level. Specifically, we have developed an ArcGIS extension, named Activity Pattern Analyst (APA), to facilitate exploratory analysis of activity diary data. This extension covers a set of functions such as space-time path generation, space-time path segmentation, space-time path filter, and activity distribution/density pattern exploration. It also provides a space-time path based multi-level clustering method to investigate individual-level spatiotemporal patterns. Using an activity diary dataset collected in Beijing, China, this paper presents how this Activity Pattern Analyst extension can facilitate exploratory analysis of individual activity diary data to uncover spatiotemporal patterns of individual activities.