Habit plays a central role in travel behaviour and travel mode use. This, however, has too little been taken into account in past and current Dutch policies towards controlling car use. It is suggested that policy strategies and measures should be dependent on both the nature (desirable or undesirable) and the strength of habit in travel mode use of the target group. A methodology is proposed, consisting of a number of steps, according to which: (1) the target population can be divided into relevant `habit groups' (traveller groups which are different in habit strength and habit nature); (2) the supposed best basic strategies can be determined for influencing each group; and (3) potentially effective policy directions and measures can be deduced in order to transform undesirable habits into more desirable habits in travel mode use, and to reinforce already desirable travel behaviour patterns. (A)
Abstract