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Changes in level of household car ownership: The role of life events and spatial context

Clark, Ben; Chatterjee, Kiron; Melia, Steve

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Authors

Ben Clark Ben4.Clark@uwe.ac.uk
Associate Professor of Transport Planning and Engineering

Steven Melia Steve.Melia@uwe.ac.uk
Senior Lecturer in Transport Planning



Abstract

Recent longitudinal studies of household car ownership have examined factors associated with increases and decreases in car ownership level. The contribution of this panel data analysis is to identify the predictors of different types of car ownership level change (zero to one car, one to two cars and vice versa) and demonstrate that these are quite different in nature. The study develops a large scale data set (n=19,334), drawing on the first two waves (2009–2011) of the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS). This has enabled the generation of a comprehensive set of life event and spatial context variables. Changes to composition of households (people arriving and leaving) and to driving licence availability are the strongest predictors of car ownership level changes, followed by employment status and income changes. Households were found to be more likely to relinquish cars in association with an income reduction than they were to acquire cars in association with an income gain. This may be attributed to the economic recession of the time. The effect of having children differs according to car ownership state with it increasing the probability of acquiring a car for non-car owners and increasing the probability of relinquishing a car for two car owners. Sensitivity to spatial context is demonstrated by poorer access to public transport predicting higher probability of a non-car owning household acquiring a car and lower probability of a one-car owning household relinquishing a car. While previous panel studies have had to rely on comparatively small samples, the large scale nature of the UKHLS has provided robust and comprehensive evidence of the factors that determine different car ownership level changes.

Citation

Clark, B., Chatterjee, K., & Melia, S. (2016). Changes in level of household car ownership: The role of life events and spatial context. Transportation, 43(4), 565-599. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11116-015-9589-y

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Mar 5, 2015
Online Publication Date Mar 5, 2015
Publication Date Jul 1, 2016
Deposit Date Apr 21, 2015
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Transportation
Print ISSN 0049-4488
Electronic ISSN 1572-9435
Publisher Springer Verlag
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 43
Issue 4
Pages 565-599
DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s11116-015-9589-y
Keywords car ownership, dynamics, life events, longitudinal, panel data, spatial context
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/913425
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11116-015-9589-y

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