Published at: Handbook of Travel Behaviour

Travel Behaviour Change

Abstract

Travel behaviour is seen by many as representing the physical outcomes (or ‘choices’) exhibited by travellers and captured by their revealed or stated preferences and actions. Travel behaviours commonly addressed by researchers and practitioners are mode choice, route choice, destination choice, and choices associated with journey times. Research on travel behaviour change has covered quite a large range of subject areas and applications.

In recent years it has tended to address unexplored aspects such as: the association between commuting, subjective wellbeing and mental health (Mokhtarian, 2019; Liu, Ettema and Helbich, 2022); travel behaviour in the context of automated driving technologies (Harb et al., 2018; Xiao and Goulias, 2022); the travel behaviour of millennials and older adults (Lee et al., 2020; Jamal and Newbold, 2020); and the effects of COVID- 19 restrictions on travel behaviour (Shamshiripour et al., 2020; Benita, 2021).

Obviously, an individual does not necessarily maintain the same patterns of travel behaviour over time, not even while performing routine activities (such as commuting). The term ‘travel behaviour change’ may therefore reflect changes in travel patterns of individuals or groups over time.

According to Goodwin et al. (2004, p. 1), ‘The phrase “changing travel behaviour” is ambiguous – changing as a description of what actually happens, and changing as an active intent by public or private agencies.’ The growing body of research on transportation over the last decades reports extensive evidence on the twin underlying propositions associated with ‘travel behaviour change’: that travel behaviour changes over time – sometimes in the short term but mostly in the long term; and that observing such change might be challenging.

Empirical evidence on behavioural change, the emerging insights on the factors associated with it, and the barriers to such change have provided insights into measures that can be designed and implemented in order to change travel behaviour – leading to studies on the effectiveness of such measures. Goodwin et al. also argue that there is a third, implied statement related to changing travel behaviour: that it should be changed, for example in the context of improving public health or reducing the effects of transport on climate change.

Considering some of the recent studies in the travel behaviour literature, a forth paradigm associated with the term ‘travel behaviour change’ has emerged: common determinants of behaviour (such as attitudes) not only affect the physical outcomes (or choices) of travel behaviour but are also affected by them.

However, this so-called ‘reverse causality hypothesis’ (e.g., van Wee et al., 2019) – which can be explained by the theory of cognitive dissonance (Festinger, 1957) – is not the main focus here. Theoretical and conceptual frameworks of travel behaviour are largely discussed elsewhere in this volume, and some of the major findings are described.

The main purposes of this chapter are: further discussing the three statements above (although not necessarily in the order they were presented); outlining the controversies associated with them; and identifying some research gaps and open questions in research and policy making. The three main statements associated with the term ‘travel behaviour change’ are controversial, and some of these controversies have been dealt with by empirical and theoretical analysis, leading to (somewhat limited) public debate.

Some of the controversies associated with the theory and practice of travel behaviour change discussed here might find their way into research agendas in order to better understand how travel behaviour changes and improve the design of travel behaviour measures. The chapter ends with a discussion of such research directions, and it is likely that at least some of them will shape the future research agenda in travel behaviour. Hopefully readers interested in travel behaviour research will find interest and inspiration here.

 

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