En modern entré till mer bilfria vardagsliv i Älvsjö och Haninge? : Lägenhetsköpares resvanor, dagliga aktiviteter och förväntningar före flytt till BRF On Track och BRF Blicken, med mobilitetstjänster och låga parkeringstal.

(as published, with the title “A Modern Entrance to Car-free Everyday lives (Fredrik Johansson, Greger Henriksson)” at Polis Conference “Innovation in Transport for Sustainable Cities and Regions”, November 2018) Sweden, as well as many other countries, has used minimum parking requirements since the 50s, where the city requires the developer to provide a minimum number of parking spaces. Several researchers have criticized the appropriateness of this approach, highlighting that these requirements contribute to urban sprawl, increase construction costs and car use, and that they may reduce the number of apartments being built (Shoup, 1999). In the light of these criticisms many Swedish cities, such as Stockholm, have revised their parking policies, and now use lower and more flexible parking standards for apartments. These standards vary depending on the apartments’ location, public transport supply and supply of services in the area. Furthermore, the developer can substitute a certain amount of parking for other mobility services (such as membership in a car club). The results from a research project are presented, where two residential developments in the Stockholm region are planned according to these new more flexible principles. Interviews and surveys have been carried out with people who bought an apartment before they moved in, and a post-evaluation will be carried out when they have moved in (early autumn 2018). The presentation will mostly focus on the pre-evaluation, but some tentative results from the post-evaluation will also be presented. The principal focus was to understand: how and why people travel as they do (e.g. how the travel habits are intertwined with other daily activities) whether people are aware of the parking situation and the provision of mobility services as well as what they think of this. how it affected their decision to move to the apartments and whether and how it influences their (planned) car ownership and travel habits (i.e. do they plan to sell their car, how does this procedure look the car ownership and travel habits of people moving in to the pilot houses before and after they moved in Innovative part of project: Several cities around the world have started a shift away from minimum parking standards and towards a more flexible approach and with the aim to car traffic. However, these new guidelines, however promising, are not thoroughly evaluated, and planners at the municipalities are worried that not enough parking spaces are built. The innovative parts of this project are twofold: Transdisciplinary research that, apart from the researchers, include the developers and the municipality. The research project started in 2011 and the transdisciplinary research group has worked together throughout the process from choosing the developments, planning and building the apartments and finally conducting evaluations before and after people move in (fall 2018). This on-going and participatory research methodology give us deep insights Pre- and post evaluations, with qualitative focus. The second innovative part of the project is the qualitative evaluation methodology. The evaluations are not merely measuring quantitative factors, but focuses more particularly on understanding how habits are entwined in peoples’ daily activities, and perceived and given meaning to by people. Furthermore, the research gives insights into the process of changing habits and on how planners and developers can facilitate and aid in such a process. Results achieved: Buyers’ car ownership and travel habits are quite similar to socio-demographically comparable populations The distance to the commuter train and local centre is a precondition for reduced car ownership, and made some people starting to consider the need for a car The mobility services and restricted number of parking spaces did not considerably affect the decision to move to the apartments. People buying an apartment had limited experience with the mobility services (e.g. car club). They were positive to the mobility services, and several considered that they did not need a private car if only the mobility services functioned. The developers had provided information about the mobility services throughout the entire process. Despite this, several people did not know about the mobility services, and some had misunderstood the services. Retired people seemed to be a particularly interesting target group. Many retired people traveled more seldom, but still needed a car for some errands. This group was interested in the car club, both as a way to provide access to a car when needed, and to reduce mobility cost. However, they felt unsure about how the car club worked in practice and whether they would have access to a car when needed. Lessons learned: The results mentioned above will be complemented with a post-evaluation (autumn 2018), and some tentative results from the post-evaluation will also be presented. Some lessons learned so far are that these apartments do not seem to attract a specific target group, but seem to be applicable to a more general public. However, young people generally have a lower car ownership (and can be encouraged to not buy a car) and retired people may find it attractive to substitute a private car for mobility services (but feel unsecure about the services). Information is needed, but many also need to get tangible experiences (test) of the services. Moving in events may be a way for people to test the services. People are generally very positive to the approach and several informants mention that mobility services are “modern”. They also find it positive to not depend on a car, and to instead have a range of mobility options available.QC 20181221