Mobility Biographies in Three Generations – Socialization Effects on Commute Mode Choice

The mobility biography approach is increasingly recognised in travel behaviour studies. Related empirical studies analyse key events and mobility experiences over the life course of individuals. In addition to these personal experiences, social context and socialisation through family members play an important role in this respect. This paper presents a theoretical framework for analysing commute behaviour over the life course of different generations and gives preliminary empirical results. The empirical work is based on a retrospective survey conducted annually since 2007 at TU Dortmund University (Germany). The relationship between the travel mode use, the individual and parental attitudes towards travel modes, and residential locations over the life course is investigated. Our findings indicate that attitudes and residential locations of the younger generation in a family are associated with the same variables of their parents. The residential characteristics and attitudes in turn are significant predictors for travel mode use on commute trips. These preliminary results indicate the relevance of socialisation effects for commute mode choice.