Public attitudes towards policy measures for reducing private car use: evidence from a study in Sweden

In an internet survey, a random sample of 291 university employees living in Gothenburg, Sweden, reported their beliefs and evaluations of the consequences of implementing three travel demand management (TDM) measures varying from less to more coercive. The results showed that respondents differentiated amongst the TDM measures in terms of each measure's expected consequences and that, when combining these beliefs with evaluations, a statistically significant proportion of variance was accounted for in attitudes to the TDM measures. Environmental concern modified several of the effects of consequences on attitudes towards TDM measures, as well as influencing overall attitude. The general and practical implications of these findings for improving attitudes to such policies are also discussed.