The motivation underlying adolescents׳ intended time-frame for driving licensure and car ownership: A socio-ecological approach

Abstract

a b s t r a c tThis study focuses on the adolescents' intended time-frame for obtaining a driving license and purchasing a car, as the delay of these decisions will likely affect the amount of travel and transport externalities. Semi-structured interviews with 50 Danish adolescents were analyzed by means of deductive-inductive thematic narrative analysis based on the socio-ecological approach. The results show three groups in line with the market-diffusion model: intended early car users, intended early license holders and later car users, and intended late license holders and car users. The first group are car enthusiasts who associate cars with high instrumental, affective, symbolic, and relational values, have car-oriented social networks, and imagine a car-oriented lifestyle. The second group are car pragmatists, who associate cars with high instrumental and relational values, perceive car expenses as a barrier, and imagine a car-oriented lifestyle only in the long-term. The third group are car skeptics, who have low interest in cars and imagine a cycling-oriented future. Policy implications concern (i) promoting sharedresponsibility among individuals, public bodies, communities and policy makers towards a sustainable future, (ii) applying a policy-package comprising complementary policy measures to target the three identified groups, (iii) relying on social networks for knowledge propagation and success of policy measures and educational campaigns, and (iv) promoting a tangible future vision based on sustainable modes.

Youth transitions: mobility and the travel intentions of 12–20 year olds, Reading, UK

“…These points further strengthen the claim that cars are losing their dominance in the identity formation and cultural symbolism of young people (Kent and Dowling 2013). Drawing upon Sigurdardottir et al's (2014) categories, these young people were mostly 'car pragmatists' or 'car skeptics'. That very few young people reported immediate intentions to drive contests Line et al (2010)'s findings which suggest more decisive aspirations to drive.…”

“…The proportion of young licence holders has fallen across many countries (Delbosc and Currie 2013;Le Vine et al 2014) and only 31% of UK youth aged 17-20 have a full driving license (DfT 2014c). However, only 9% currently without a licence report never intending to learn to drive (DfT 2014c), suggesting delays in licence acquisition rather than longer term decisions to not drive (Noble 2005;Line et al 2010;Sigurdardottir et al 2014). Although around 2/3s of youth have access to a car, there has been a reduction in car availability and car miles travelled (Kuhnimhof et al 2012a).…”

“…Whilst young people's use and ownership of cars has reduced over the past few decades, high aspirations for young people to drive remain as part of the status of adulthood (van der Waard et al 2013;Barker 2014;Redshaw 2006). Whilst some indicate awareness of environmental impacts of cars (Kuhnimhof et al 2012a;van der Waard et al 2013;McLaren in press), others have questioned the importance of environmental attitudes in decisions about driving or holding a licence (Delbosc and Currie 2013;Sigurdardottir et al 2014). Whilst some speculate that e-communication has replaced cars as status symbols and reduced young people's need for physical mobility (Kuhnimhof et al 2012a;van der Waard et al 2013), others suggest that e-communication facilitates non-car modes of travel (Delbosc and Currie 2013;, whilst Le Vine et al (2014) identify a clear, positive correlation between internet use and holding a driving licence.…”

“…Further, there is growing debate over whether encouraging young people to travel by public transport effects future mobility intentions (Sigurdardottir et al 2014), and whether young people maintain at least some of their travel behaviours as they age (Kuhnimhof et al 2012a). Evidence from Montréal indicates that (given an affordable, frequent and dense network) young people's use of public transport is greater into their 30s than previous cohorts.…”

Adolescents and their aspirations for private car-based transport

“…In a study of adolescents' intentions to obtain a driver's licence, and purchase a car in Denmark, Sigurdardottir et al (2014) find three groups; 'car enthusiasts', 'car pragmatists', and 'car skeptics'. Car enthusiasts have car-oriented social networks and strong instrumental, affective, symbolic, and relational values.…”