For most people the individual advantages of car use (e.g., its speed, flexibility, comfort) outweigh the collective costs, such as environmental, safety and accessibility problems. This conflict between individual and collective interests is a typical example of a social dilemma. This study is aimed at examining car use from a social dilemma perspective. Results of two studies in the UK and in the Netherlands are presented and compared. In both studies we measured car use, perceived possibilities to reduce car use, and the acceptability of car travel reduction strategies. Furthermore, we examined motives influencing dilemma behaviour, i.e., perceptions of (local) transport problems, attitudes towards car use, whether respondents feel responsible for the problems, and whether they think they can contribute to the solution of these problems. Moreover, it was examined whether these motives are related to the acceptability of car reduction measures. For the covering abstract see ITRD E113725 (C 22328 CD-ROM).
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