Which policy measures can motivate active mobility in rural and semi-rural areas?

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2023.103688Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open access

Highlights

  • We develop six walking- and eight cycling-oriented policy measures for rural areas.

  • A representative sample of Lower Austrians assesses their motivational ability.

  • Town revitalization and infrastructural measures are seen as most motivating.

  • Mobility-related and psychological variables affect respondents’ assessment the most.

  • Respondents regard all policy measures as more motivating to others than to themselves.

Abstract

This study investigates which policy measures are able to motivate citizens in rural and semi-rural areas of Lower Austria to use active transport modes for everyday trips. A representative sample was asked to evaluate six walking- and eight cycling-oriented policy measures. We find that the revitalization of village/town centers and infrastructural measures are considered most motivating, and soft measures (such as information provision) least motivating. The respondents’ answers are found to depend on their current and intended mobility behavior, but only to a limited extent on their socio-demographic characteristics. Individuals who believe that active mobility is associated with time savings, freedom, ecological benefits, and health tend to feel significantly more motivated by most policy measures. Finally, we observe that respondents regard all policy measures as more motivating to others than to themselves. We discuss strategic answering and behavioral biases as potential explanations.

Keywords

Rural mobility
Travel behavior
Active mobility
Cycling
Walking
Transport policies
Theory of planned behavior
Attitudes
Revitalization
Speed limit

Cited by (0)