Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/6623
Title: Interrupting habit : car use habit and personal norm combined : implications for Malta
Authors: Hazzard, Sara
Keywords: Automobiles -- Social aspects -- Malta
Choice of transportation -- Malta
Transportation -- Planning -- Malta
Traffic congestion -- Malta
Issue Date: 2015
Abstract: The quality of transport systems has been closely examined in recent years as negative issues concerning mobility increasingly question the car as a champion of personal transport. Cities are under pressure to create and maintain sustainable urban spaces that provide a good quality of life for their inhabitants while at the same time accommodate the increasing number of cars circulating within them. The overall focus of this study is personal car use in an urban environment and the factors that influence individuals who use the car as their primary form of transport, in particular those factors that concern car users in Malta. The factors influencing car use are explored using a case study research method to produce rich qualitative data about different, interrelating aspects of an individual’s life. Habit strength and personal norm were measured in a sample of seven participants who were asked to perform an implementation intention strategy to reduce some of their car use. Car diaries were completed either side of the introduction of information about alternative forms of transport. Subsequently, all participants were interviewed at length. From a series of thematic analyses of the participants' interviews, the data showed that the car users experience widely differing socio-situational circumstances and lifestyles that demand particular levels of mobility, but which indicate similar levels of car dependency. A shift in behaviour may require a cultural shift in the way tasks are viewed and performed. The ease of using the car may need to be curbed in order for people to rethink their priorities. Car-dependent environments favour primarily the motorist. Car-use behaviour is complex and there is no single solution that will reduce the number of cars on urban roads. In the context of pursuing sustainable mobility, any change in transport modal share can be viewed as a balance between soft and hard measures to bring about effective behavioural change.
Description: M.SC.SUS.DEVELOPMENT
URI: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar//handle/123456789/6623
Appears in Collections:Dissertations - InsCCSD - 2015

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