Community Perceptions of ‘TravelSmart®’ Behaviour in South Australia

Abstract

Despite the recent interest in changing community travel behaviours to promote sustainability, most travel behaviour change research to date has centred on a variety of health and safety issues. Insights from the psychology field have led to an alternative to information-based behaviour change campaigns known as community-based social marketing. This approach involves the identification of barriers that prevent individuals from engaging in sustainable behaviours, and the implementation of strategies ('tools') specifically targeted at addressing these perceived barriers. The recommended method for identifying barriers is to compare the frequency and strength of the perceived barriers to change from a group of individuals who are currently engaged in, and those not currently engaged in, the behaviour of interest. This study aims to contribute to travel behaviour change research by enhancing our understanding of the reasons people choose to engage or not engage in sustainable travel behaviours, such as riding public transport, walking, or riding bicycles. A secondary aim of this study is to inform the design and implementation of behaviour change programs and to enable a more strategic approach to travel behaviour change. Faceto- face interviews were conducted on a sample of 392 individuals from western Adelaide metropolitan region. Respondents were categorised according to their level of agreement with a number of key statements and discriminant analysis was conducted to discover the most important travel issues distinguishing those engaged or not engaged in that behaviour. The results suggested potentially important factors to be addressed when developing strategies for changing travel behaviour.