People mobility

The people mobility impact area addresses how the CCAM system influences individuals’ potential and actual mobility choices by examining effects on availability, access, quality, suitability, and affordability of mobility options.

People mobility refers to travel behaviour but also considers the reasons behind it—how individuals make the journeys to their chosen destinations. Therefore, the impacts of CCAM on people mobility are assessed from the perspective of different individuals.

The scope of people mobility includes travel behaviour from a single individual’s perspective, encompassing for example mode choice, route choice, and amount of travel over distance or time.

Travelling is usually seen as a derived demand, as people need to move between locations to undertake activities and fulfil their daily needs. Travel behaviour is affected by individual needs and preferences, the location of residence and activities, and the opportunities and constraints of the transport system.

Opportunities refer to the travel options available to individuals. Constraints include the different kinds of costs travelling incurs, in terms of time, money, mental and physical effort, and the perceived safety and security of a travel mode, collectively known as travel resistance. The constraints can also be described as generalised transport costs (GTC). Generally, the lower the generalised travel costs, the higher the use of a mobility option.

The travel behaviour of individuals, such as the number of trips, trip timing, length, and mode choice, is affected by both general and trip-specific factors including:

• Personal situation in terms of financial means, (dis)ability, employment, family, etc.
• Residential setting and distance to activities, transport infrastructure
• Trip purpose, such as commute, leisure or shopping
• Availability of travel modes, vehicle ownership
• Habits, motivations, and attitudes toward travel modes
• Familiarity with travel modes, availability of information about travel modes
• (Perceived) quality, comfort, ease of use, safety and personal security of available modes
• Costs of available travel modes
• Weather
• Real-time traffic information, such as congested routes

CCAM may affect several of the above factors and their relevance to an individual’s travel choices. For example, if the generalised travel costs of personal cars drop, people may travel more by car. More flexible mobility services may lead to combining trips previously done separately. Better access to different locations may also affect the activities that people engage in, and new services can change the need for certain types of trips. For example, robot deliveries can replace trips to shops or restaurants. The most important components of the people mobility impact area are summarised in the next figure.

Main components of the people mobility impact area.