DfT publishes report on Climate Change and Transport choices; provides segment analysis for personal travel
Sat 27 August 2011
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The Deparment for Transport has published a new study which outlines a segmentation approach in terms of public attitudes to climate change and transport choices. The segmentation model is intended to provide a framework for local authorities and the voluntary, communities and social enterprises sector seeking to develop effective, targeted sustainable transport initiatives which take account of the character of their local population.
The segmentation focuses primarily on surface transport with some findings related to air travel behaviour.
The main aims of the segmentation were to:
- identify and quantify groups or segments within the population that differ in terms of the factors relevant to reducing CO2 emissions from personal transport use;
- enable a better understanding of the segments that exist within the adult population of England;
- provide a model which could be used by the Department and its partner organisations (including local authorities) to develop more targeted and effective, sustainable transport initiatives.
The report follows an interim report and accompanying dataset of the survey findings published in December 2010.
The segmentation model described in the report is based on data from 3,923 face-to-face, in-home interviews conducted between November 2009 and June 2010 with adults (aged 16 plus) living in England.
The main survey found a great deal of variation in travel behaviour and attitudes towards the environment among different groups of people and across different types of locations.
In particular:
- Higher income groups showed less sustainable transport behaviour, tending to own more cars; own cars with larger engines; travel by car more often; travel more miles a year by car; and fly by plane more often; than lower income groups
- Better educated respondents tended to hold more ‘pro-environmental’ attitudes.
- As there are strong links between education and income, this led to an apparent disconnection between attitudes and behaviour; higher income, highly educated respondents tended to be more pro-environmental in their attitudes but less sustainable in terms of their actual transport behaviour than lower income, less well educated respondents.
- Those living in rural areas tended to show particularly high levels of car travel,more positive attitudes about cars and less positive attitudes about alternative modes.
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