Adolescents and their aspirations for private car-based transport

The need to transition away from the current car-dominated transport system is well documented in sustainability, health and transportation literatures. Despite growing interest in active and public transport modes, the car still dominates travel preferences for most age groups. There is, however, some evidence of declining preferences for car-based travel for younger generations. In this paper, we use empirical material gathered through a mixed methods study of high school students in Dunedin, New Zealand, to explore the aspirations of adolescents for private car-based transport. We present and interpret findings from a quantitative survey of high school students (n = 1240) and qualitative focus groups (n = 10 focus groups, 54 participants). Contrary to somewhat optimistic reports of reduced aspiration for driving and cars, we find evidence of ongoing preference for car-based transport, and intentions to learn to drive amongst the cohort of young urban millennials. The findings signal the importance of socialisation processes and everyday travel decisions (e.g. mode choice) for long term aspirations to replicate practices of automobility. Such findings have important implications for interventions to increase non-motorised mobilities, and reduce dependence on private vehicles across the transport system.