Jan Prillwitz

Impact of Everyday Weather on Individual Daily Travel Behaviours in Perspective: A Literature Review

In the light of growing societal interest for climate change adaptation and mitigation, insights into the meaning of weather conditions for travel behaviours—particularly walking and cycling—have become very important. Recently, various studies from transport, health and biometeorological disciplines have touched upon the relevance of weather for daily activities and travel, yet a review and critical assessment of the existing knowledge are lacking. Hence, the aim of this review is first to bring together these contributions and provide a systematic and comprehensive overview concerning the impact of weather conditions on daily travel activities. Second, the methodological, contextual and behavioural backgrounds of the studies will be discussed. The major conclusion is that the existing studies present an incomplete and fragmented picture of the impact of weather on travel behaviour, which makes effective planning for climate change a harsh job. In the conclusions, some lines for future research will be recommended.

A Smarter Choice? Exploring the Behaviour Change Agenda for Environmentally Sustainable Mobility

This paper explores some of the limitations of individualistic approaches towards the study and promotion of environmentally sustainable practices within the context of efforts by states to tackle global climate change. Using the example of government attempts to promote sustainable mobility through behavioural shifts amongst citizens in the UK, the paper argues that an overreliance on individualistic approaches poses three major challenges through the ways in which: (1) mobility is intricately entwined with social practices and consumption settings; (2) practices of (un)sustainable mobility are related to the structure and organisation of physical environments; and (3) solutions for sustainable mobility are framed through narrow political lenses that fail to address the potential social transformations needed to tackle climate change. Accordingly, the paper argues that both researchers and policy makers need to revisit the assumptions made concerning the role of individuals and their relationship to underlying sociostructural and political challenges for reducing carbon emissions from transport.

Travel Time and Distance in International Perspective: A Comparison between Nanjing (China) and the Randstad (The Netherlands)

While Western countries are trying to reduce car dependency on the back of low carbon objectives, the ownership and use of private cars in urban China is increasing dramatically. In this paper, light is shed on both developments through a comparative study of the travel behaviour in two regions with a very different built environment: Nanjing, China, and the Randstad in the Netherlands. Controlled for car ownership, daily travel time and distance are analysed in both regions. The results indicate that, in the case of Nanjing, the suggestion is that the configurations of current land use which support walking and cycling should be preserved as much as possible and that, in the meanwhile, investments should be made in fast public transport to facilitate economic developments. As regards the Randstad, it would seem wise to promote the use of walking and cycling by continuing to encourage compact land use patterns in combination with relatively fast public transport developments.

Elderly co-residence and the household responsibilities hypothesis : Evidence from Nanjing, China

In this paper, we analyze the effects of co-residence with elderly parents on gender differences in travel. The Household Responsibility Hypothesis (HRH) explains differences in the role of women regarding household responsibilities. However, research so far has studied “Western” household types while excluding households with co-residing elderly parents. Furthermore, research has paid exclusive attention to gender differences in commuting trips, and has neglected the effects of built environment characteristics. In view of these shortcomings, we pose the following research questions: what are the determinants of gendered differences in travel behavior, and specifically, what are the effects of elderly co-residence in households and land use on gender differences in trip frequency and travel distance? In addition to the HRH, we introduce the Elderly Co-residence Hypothesis, which suggests that co-residing elderly parents take over household responsibilities from adult women, resulting in diminishing gender differences in working-age travel patterns. We present the results of empirical research in Nanjing, China, that support this hypothesis.

“Lead has become carbon dioxide”: framing sustainable travel in an age of climate change

This paper explores the promotion of environmentally sustainable travel and the ways in which individual citizens engage with exhortations to adopt environmentally responsible travel modes. In local contexts, the arguments for promoting modal shifts have focused on issues like congestion, noise reduction and the improvement of local environmental quality. However, in recent years, concerns about global climate change have reframed the promotion of sustainable travel around carbon emissions reductions and more fundamental changes to lifestyle choices as a way of combating climate change. Within this context, this paper considers the ways in which individuals frame sustainable travel through using focus group data collected as part of a wider research project on travel behaviour in the UK. The paper will demonstrate that notions of “sustainable” travel are still largely dominated by localised environmental concerns that have resonances with the everyday experiences and practices of individuals, with many of the factors underlying established discourses of travel behaviour being focused on pragmatic issues like convenience and cost. In contrast, the issue of climate change presents a number of challenges for policy-makers seeking to change behaviour because of the contestations surrounding climate science, political leadership and the perceived role of individual consumers in tackling climate change.