The need to change how people think about the consequences of travel

We argue that the general public and politicians think more about the short-term individual benefits of travel than they think about the long-term societal costs. One explanation is that they have less knowledge of the latter than they have of the former. Another explanation is that they like people in general are more concerned about their own wellbeing and the wellbeing of their close relatives than they are concerned about the well-being of unknown others. Yet, in a democratic society changes towards sustainable travel are not likely to materialize unless people shift their thinking about travel to placing a higher weight on its long-term societal costs than the short-term benefits. Research findings documenting these costs may affect the general public only if they are accurately conveyed by different sources including governments, mass media, producers and providers of travel services, and other people. We identify many current obstacles to this in need to be removed.