Perceptions of trip making and wellbeing

Abstract

Travel and mobility have an impact on creating and maintaining wellbeing. This paper focuses on barriers recognised in wellbeing-related travel by addressing two research questions: 1) Who agree that their wellbeing would increase if they could make more trips? and 2) What are the transport-related barriers identified in making trips important to wellbeing? The analyses are based on a survey conducted in Tampere, Finland in autumn 2020. 484 responses were collected from adults aged 18 and older. The results indicate that having a car and having access to use a car play an important role in wellbeing-related travel. Having a driving licence did not have a similar effect suggesting that driving licence ownership may be more voluntary compared to car ownership or access to car. Many barriers, such as cost of travel, travel time and location of destinations, were identified by those who agree that their wellbeing would increase if they were able to make more trips compared to those who disagreed with the statement. This implies that those who think that their wellbeing could increase with more travel encounter many barriers in travel. It is noted that the survey was planned before the COVID-19 pandemic. During data collection the COVID-19 situation was stable and public transport frequencies were normal. Notwithstanding, given the COVID-19 pandemic, the results may overemphasize importance of car in making trips on wellbeing. Nevertheless, mobility choices and wellbeing are increasingly important and complex issues due to COVID-19.

Keywords

• Wellbeing
• Travel
• Barriers in travel