Changing travel behaviour and attitudes following a residential relocation

A considerable amount of studies have indicated that people to some extent select themselves in specific neighbourhoods allowing them to travel in their desired way. Although a lot of studies analysed the degree to which travel preferences affect the residential location choice, few studies looked at the effect of a residential relocation on people's travel behaviour and attitudes. A new residential context has the potential to disrupt previous travel choices and could potentially change people's attitudes. This study – using 1539 recently relocated residents in the city of Ghent (Belgium) – analyses self-reported changes in mode frequency and travel attitudes after a relocation, and uses a cohort approach to look at mode frequency and attitudes at different times after the relocation took place. Results suggest that (i) travel attitudes often influence the residential location choice, and (ii) both travel attitudes and travel mode choice change after a relocation, albeit in different ways depending on the current (urban versus suburban) and previous residential neighbourhood (more/equally/less urbanised). This study also suggests that a (possible) dissonance between travel attitudes and the residential neighbourhood is partly a temporal situation, as attitudes can gradually change in accordance with the new residential environment.