sustainability Article Can an Experience with No Car Use Change Future Mode Choice Behavior? Matus Sucha *, Lucie Viktorova and Ralf Risser Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, Palacký University in Olomouc, Olomouc 771 80, Czech Republic * Correspondence:
[email protected] Received: 21 June 2019; Accepted: 19 August 2019; Published: 29 August 2019 Abstract: In order to determine whether an experimentally induced experience has the potential to change future travel mode choice, we recruited 10 families living in a middle-sized city who used a car at least four times a week, and made them stop using the car for one month. Each adult family member kept a travel diary and interviews were conducted prior to the experiment, after one month without a car, and then three months and one year after the experiment ended. The results suggest that the participants’ attitudes towards different transportation modes did not change during the period of the study, but their actual travel behavior did. In this respect, several factors were identified that influence travel mode choice, once the participants are made aware of the decision process and break the habit of car use. Keywords: car use; travel mode choice; traffic psychology; road user behavior; sustainable traffic modes 1. Introduction Automobile dependency consists of high levels of per capita automobile travel, automobile-oriented land use patterns, and limited transport alternatives [1]. Automobile dependency has many impacts on consumers, society, and the economy. It increases mobility and the convenience of motorists. At the same time, it increases consumers’ transportation costs and resource consumption, requires significant financial and land resources for roads and parking facilities, and it increases traffic congestion, roadway risk, and environmental impacts.