Could sustainable transport policies lead to behavioural change? – A user's point of view

Céline Polain and Pierre Lannoy, Catholic University of Louvain

Keywords

sustainable transport policy, students travel behaviours, Brussels, behavioural change, modal shift, price, free transit, qualitative methodology, sociology of mobility

Abstract

Implementing sustainable transport policies can among others be achieved by encouraging shifts from car to public transport. Several cities have therefore carried out free public transport experiences, especially in Belgium.

The federal research on which we will base our account is intended to assess the (expected) results of a free transit policy on a focus group: students from higher institutions located in Brussels. Dutch speaking students can indeed benefit from free season tickets within Brussels whereas French speaking students do not have this opportunity.

Through this natural laboratory situation, we wish to analyse from a sociological perspective, by means of qualitative and comprehensive methods, the cognitive logics guiding mobility behaviours of students and particularly, the reasons why free public transport could or not change their behaviours.

Our account is divided into four parts, which will analyse:

The context, the objectives and techniques of the survey,
The role of environmental concerns in users' talks,
The role of price concerns in students' arguments,
Users' global assessment of a "free transit policy" and their behavioural (expected) changes.

Sociological types emerging from the different lines of arguments used will be described.

Transport experts generally consider the second and third topics analysed as essential components of any efficient free public transport policy. We will however show that few students regard these as crucial when reasoning about mobility behaviours. More practical factors are referred to. The last point will present a "mixed" assessment of this kind of policy, mentioning some unexpected arguments.