Car Use of the Carless in Sweden: Everyday Life Conditions for Reducing Car Dependence

Abstract

For the sake of reducing car dependence, much can be learned from non-car owners about how everyday life can, and cannot, be organized without private car ownership. This study aims to explore carless mobility, including the role of the car, in relation to specific everyday projects and life situations. We do so through a descriptive analysis of data from the Swedish National Travel Survey 2011–2016, comparing carless mobility with that of car owners. Theoretically, our analysis builds on a constraints perspective with respect to mobility, which is rooted in time geography. We find that the constraints associated with activities and life situations seem to matter for how mobility is performed and for the feasibility of living a carless life. Managing the material flows of the household (for example, buying food and disposing of waste) is a project handled differently by non-car owners, through using nearby services and with a low degree of car use. On the other hand, our data suggest that maintaining social relations is car dependent and can potentially be more problematic for the carless. Moreover, an individual’s social network itself seems to be an important source of occasional car access. Results also indicate that the life situations of individuals may affect the mobility implications of carlessness, and the largest effect on trip frequency is found among carless retirees. From a planning perspective, and with the ambition to reduce private car use, this study identifies significant value in considering the different contexts of everyday life in which car use may or may not occur.

Exploring routinization and reflexivity in change and reproduction of consumption towards lower climate impact

“…Car access is a key determinant for mobility patterns of individual households (Lagrell and Gil Solá, 2021), and even if it is not always the dominant everyday mode for many households, it is still often narrated as such. What is often ignored in public debate is the substantial share of Danish households (38% in 2020) without access to a car, while at the same time, an increasing number of high-income families are acquiring two or even three cars Statistics Denmark (2021).…”