Barns vardagsresor och föräldrars val av färdsätt

Children’s everyday travel and parents’ choices of mode of travel. Karola Fors, Department of Geography, Umeå University, Sweden Abstract The purpose of this interview study was to investigate parents’ choice of travel mode for their child and behavioral change towards sustainable travel. The study was conducted in Umeå, a city in northern Sweden, in March and April 2019. The interview focused on parents describing from travel journals one week of their child’s travel arrangements. The analysis of the interviews was based on The Theory of Planned Behavior (Azjen 1991). Attitude, perceived Control and Norms, lead to the Intentions to change behavior and this is described by Azjen (1991) and is also noticeable in the study conducted. Mobility Management projects in the municipalities aim to increase the use of sustainable travel modes. The parents described that the reasons for choosing their child’s mode of travel was time, distance, safety and weather conditions as determined by seasons. Some described practical reasons, age and maturity. None of the parents described health and environmental concerns when describing the choice of travel mode. The travel journals showed that most commutes were made by car, especially concerning trips to leisure activities. The intention to make changes towards sustainable travel modes varied in accordance to attitude, perceived control and norms described. Some described the child biking or taking the bus more often, others described future trips mainly by car. The norms in society is a challenge for Mobility Management projects in establishing habits towards sustainable travel modes