Public Understanding of Sustainable Transport

Abstract:

Scott Wilson, The University of the West of England, Bristol and Hall and Partners were commissioned by Defra to undertake research on the Public Understanding of Sustainable Transport. The research involved a multiple method approach, combining 3 six-hour deliberative workshops, engaging 100 people and 12 individual mobility biographies with selected participants. The deliberative workshops were held in Birmingham, Winchester and York.

Recruitment to the workshops was carried out according to an equal representation of 6 segments: Greens, Consumers with a Conscience, Wastage Focussed, Currently Constrained, Basic Contributors and Long Term Restricted.

Environmental awareness and subsequent concern were found to be widespread across all groups. Some segments were more knowledgeable and opinionated than others were and this variety of engagement with the issues was expected. It is acknowledged by researchers and through the evidence from the exit questionnaires that involvement in the project itself may have altered participants, attitudes and future behaviour (possibly short term).

However, despite there being little obvious dissent to the concept of sustainable transport reported in the workshop or biographies, the actual change in behaviour in the past discussed in the Mobility Biographies as a result of this environmental awareness was largely in domains other than sustainable mobility; most obviously the recycling of household waste. Furthermore, a 'deep green' approach to environment generally appeared to be off putting.

The public's discourse around transport behaviour often emphasises or implies permanence: 'I can't give up my car', 'buses don't run where I need to go'. However, the Mobility Biography findings confirm that behaviour changes towards more sustainable mobility do occur, but may not be permanent. More consideration might be given in the future as to whether transport policy initiatives might be targeted at specific life stages. For example, the Energy Savings Trust's 'Commit to Save 20%' campaign targets short car journeys made by motorists in general. An initiative more targeted to life-stage groups such as university students, might suggest they delay car ownership until they are in a different life stage when the benefits are greater compared to the environmental costs, i.e., it may be more difficult in physical mobility terms and more expensive for a young family to access a public transport vehicle than it is a single adult, so the emissions and energy costs of car use are easier to justify.

This study suggests that the climate change debate is permeating wider society, but that much of the environment debate seems to be carried out in a fragmented and inconsistent manner, both by society and at the individual level. Despite this growing awareness amongst the participants and claims that environmental information is 'not new news', the dominant discourse from both the mobility biographies and the workshops still was that the environment alone is an insufficient motivator to change behaviour. In other words it is probably only going to be a supporting factor in encouraging behaviour change

1. Introduction
2. Methodology
3. Consumers, understanding, assumptions and aspirations of sustainable transport
4. Consumer expectations
5. Consumer acceptance and the behaviour goals
6. Communicating with the consumer
7. Conclusions
8. Recommendations

• Annex A: The Defra Segmentation
• Annex B: Q Recruitment Questionnaire
• Annex C: Workshop Discussion Guide
• Annex D: Pre Task
• Annex E: Mobility Biography Protocol

Publication Year:

2007

Publisher:

Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs

DOI:

No DOI minted

Author(s):

Richardson, J., Harrison, G. and Parkhurst, G.