The ownership of mobility tools during the life course

Abstract

Decisions concerning the ownership of the various mobility tools have long-term effects since corresponding changes involve substantial amounts of resources (costs, time, etc.).Therefore, ownership forms a commitment to particular travel behaviors as people trade large one-time costs for a low marginal cost at the time of usage.In this context habits and routines are very important, which make changes difficult for the traveler.How, when and why such changes might happen, are questions of large interest for the formulation of transport policies.A longitudinal perspective, which contributes to the understanding of the dynamics of travel behavior, is available from people's life courses, which link different dimensions of life together.In order to study the dynamics of mobility tool ownership, a retrospective survey covering the 20 year period from 1985 to 2004 was carried out at the beginning of 2005 in a stratified sample of municipalities in the Zurich region, Switzerland.The paper shows that car ownership and public transport season ticket ownership substitute one another.Car ownership is highest among those who are 35 to 55 years old today.At the same time, men have noticeably more frequently a car at their disposal than women of the same age.The most changes in mobility tool ownership occur between the ages of 15 and 25 years.In this context increasing age has overall a negative influence on variations in car availability and public transport season ticket ownership.Events in other life course dimensions also play an important role.

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