Public attitudes to transport - Executive summary

Public Attitudes to Transport - Summary

• The importance of improving public transport, so that it offers a real alternative to the car was mentioned frequently across all 5 DfT goals by panel members, who conveyed challenging expectations of what public transport should provide[1] .
• Although a large majority reject the idea that buses are only for people who cannot afford any better, many people would themselves only use the bus if there were no alternative. Bus users are more positive about buses than non users.
• Key incentives for car ownership include independence and freedom. For some people car use becomes a matter of habit, the 'default' mode.

Goal 1: Climate change

• People appear, on the whole, to accept the need to address climate change, though some still see it as being about far away places and something for the future.
• Transport behaviours are perceived as being amongst the most challenging to change, particularly if they are deemed to compromise lifestyles. Research results due shortly will throw light on the nature of the barriers and how to overcome them.

Goal 2: Productivity and competitiveness

• People appreciate the importance of tackling road congestion, but this is seen mainly in terms of benefits to society (and economy) as a whole, and there is some scepticism as to whether congestion is a solvable problem. Whilst congestion does cause frustration to those who experience it, people have, to some degree, learnt to live with it.
• Congestion in towns and cities is seen as a more serious problem than congestion on motorways.
• Airport expansion and aviation growth are subject to strongly divided opinions with little consensus about the facts, or the policy consequences, of economic and environmental arguments.

Goal 3: Equality of opportunity

• The population embodies a diverse set of transport needs and constraints – one size does not fit all.
• Being able to get out and about is central to the well being of older people and transport is a key enabler of this.
• Significant minorities of people report difficulties in accessing key services and opportunities.

Goal 4: Health, safety and security

• There is high disapproval of drink driving and strong support for measures to tackle it.
• Although most people accept there is a link between walking and cycling and health, health has typically not been a top of the mind issue when making travel choices.

Goal 5: Quality of life

• Car owners tend to value the sense of control the car provides, and good public transport can contribute to the restful or tranquil passing of time.
• Less positively, about a quarter of people say that traffic has a serious impact on their quality of life. The worst impacts of road traffic - namely pedestrian accidents, air and noise pollution - are felt by those living in deprived areas.

[1] The text is marked as the entire bullet point is relying on panel evidence alone. Most of the evidence presented here is from the knowledge review. There are however, a small number of instances where the point is reliant on findings from the panel and these are marked accordingly