For which types of trips do French drivers carpool? Motivations underlying carpooling for different types of trips

• Published in: Transportation research. Part A, Policy and practice Policy and practice, 2018-07, Vol.113, p.460-475
• Main Authors: Gheorghiu, Alexandra, Delhomme, Patricia
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Carpooling; Engineering Sciences; Environmental threat; Everyday trips for carpooling; Public transportation attitudes
• ISSN: 0965-8564; 1879-2375
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2018.05.002

•The aims were to find the types of everyday trips French drivers carpool and their motivations.•Carpooling was more frequently used for leisure and shopping trips than for other types of trips.•Perceived pressure from peers and family was found to underlie carpooling for all types of trips.•For single type of trips, carpooling was linked to advantages of car use and need for mobility.•For several types of trips to carpool, social support and environmental concern emerged. Carpooling can be understood as an informal agreement between several individuals to share a privately owned car for a trip and to contribute to its expenses. It represents one of the most appealing strategies for reducing car use since it could reduce the number of kilometres driven by car, save money, and contribute to lowering CO2 emissions. Despite these advantages, and even if accepted and somewhat practiced, carpooling is still underused. The aims of this study are to investigate for which type of everyday trips French drivers use carpooling, to analyze their characteristics, and determine whether the motivations for carpooling are different for each type of trip, as well as to find out whether the motivation changes according to the number of carpooled trips. 634 carpool drivers and/or passengers (aged 19–75 years, M = 43.85, SD = 12.05, 42.7% men) were recruited to answer an online survey. Factual data (socio-demographics, transportation accessibility) and motivational factors (attitudes regarding car use, public transportation, environment) were used to describe and explain carpooling for four types of trips (work, children, leisure, and shopping). Carpooling was most frequently used for leisure trips, followed by shopping, and then by work and children trips. Among the motivations underlying carpooling, most notable were the following: perceived pressure from family and peers (for all types of trips) and public transportation attitudes. Finally, motivations for carpooling use differed according to whether participants carpool for one, two, three or four trips, regardless of the type of trip.