It is now generally recognised that action must be taken to mitigate the emission of the greenhouse gases that result in anthropogenic climate change. Transport is a sector with significant challenges to meet, and where significant benefits in terms of reducing our impact on the climate can be found. Despite an overall drop in UK carbon emissions over the period from 1990 to 2004, the road transport sector’s share grew by 9% over the same period. It is predicted that this increase will continue. One way to address this growth is to change the travel habits of the public, in such a way as to reduce CO2 emissions and the resulting impact of the transport sector on climate change. This paper reviews behavioural strategies by which travel choices may be affected. It summarises the identified barriers to changing travel behaviour and it reviews some suggested methods to overcome these barriers. The paper explores the issues and problems facing organisations seeking to change travel choices so that the emissions of greenhouse gasses are mitigated in order to reduce the extent of climate change. Finally, it reviews the current knowledge and practice in producing behaviour change in the transport sphere, and reports on where some of these strategies have been successful, and where they have failed. (Author/publisher)
Abstract