 How do constrained car ownership and car use influence travel and life satisfaction?Li, Shengxiao (Alex), Xiaodong Guan and Donggen Wang Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 2022, vol. 155, issue C, 202-218 Abstract: Promoting subjective well-being is an important goal in urban policy. Transportation scholars increasingly evaluate transportation systems based on people’s subjective well-being. This study joins this strand of efforts to answer the following research question: how do constrained car ownership and car use influence travel and life satisfaction? Empirical data were collected in Beijing where various policies had been implemented to curb the rapid growth of car ownership and mitigate traffic congestion. We answer the question by examining the effects of car ownership and car usage variables on travel and life satisfaction. Our study shows that owning multiple cars increases vehicle users’ life satisfaction, but owning a car is not related to increased life satisfaction. Purchasing a more expensive car and driving cars more frequently in daily life could not increase people’s life satisfaction, but infrequent car use contributes to higher travel and life satisfaction. Among vehicle users, using cars to commute is related to higher travel satisfaction but not higher life satisfaction. In contrast, using cars for non-work trips is related to higher life satisfaction but not travel satisfaction. We also find that attitudes towards the instrumental and affective roles of cars are positively related to travel and life satisfaction among car owners. Results of this paper suggest the importance of promoting sustainable transportation and behavioral education in cities like Beijing. Keywords: Car ownership; Car use; Subjective well-being; Life satisfaction; Travel satisfaction; Car management (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:transa:v:155:y:2022:i:c:p:202-218 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2021.11.014 Access Statistics for this article Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice is currently edited by John (J.M.) Rose More articles in Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice from Elsevier |
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