The use of private transportation: individual perceptions and collective contradictions in an environmental and social sustainability framework

Abstract

The negative externalities of the massive use of private transport have been widely studied and verified by the scientific academy. These studies have focused either on the environmental or the social issues. However, the use of the automobile is widely accepted and even vindicated among a high number of citizens. This dilemma implies having to analyze the reasons of its usage alongside with the perceptions that their users have. This paper analyses the individual motivations for using private transport to reach a single nodal and suburban point inside Barcelona’s Metropolitan Region: the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). The analysis has used quantitative methodology with data gathered by the Mobility Survey of the UAB and also qualitative analysis. Only quantifying the use of private transport and understanding the reasons for their utilization, will we be able to establish dissuasive politics against its use.