Car access and travel behaviour among men and women in car deficient households with children

Abstract Household car ownership does not necessarily reflect the access to use car, especially if there are more licenced household members than cars in the household. The research questions are: 1) Do men and women aged 18–64 years with driving licence and living in households with at least two adults, children and a car state the access to use a car as a driver in their trips differently? 2) How much do these men and women use car and other modes in their trips in relation to stated access to a car as a driver? 3) How does the stated access to use a car affect the average daily trip frequency, travel time and trip lengths? and 4) Are there differences in household income or work status between men and women aged 18–64 years with driving licence and living in households with at least two adults, children and a car who state the access to use a car as a driver in their trips differently? The results indicate that men have access to the household car more often than women. The stated access to use car is reflected in trip modal share and in some cases trip frequencies, travel time and trip lengths. The results suggest that objective indicators for mobility possibilities, such as car ownership and driving licence ownership, should be supplemented with subjective indicators about mobility options. Beneath the objective indicators may lie groups of people who are measured to have better options for mobility than they actually have.