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Our travel habits are changing as our attitudes toward transport shift - with a greater emphasis on comfort and the latest technology. For insights into this trend, we spoke with sociologist and EPFL professor Vincent Kaufmann.
How will we be moving around over the next 50 years? Discussions about the mobility transition underway in Europe are nothing new - they were also the topic of Vincent Kaufmann's PhD thesis in the 1990s. "European policymakers wanted to encourage the use of public transport in urban areas and get people out of the car and into the train," says Kaufmann, who now heads EPFL's Urban Sociology Laboratory. And even though commuter train networks were built in many cities, such as the S-Bahn in Zurich and Bern, and trams were brought back in Italy, city officials everywhere are making the same observation: "More people are indeed using public transport, but car usage rates haven't declined," says Kaufmann. "The cultural mindset hasn't changed."
That said, today's commuters - either by force or by choice - are gradually turning to other transportation methods, despite being raised with the passenger car. These alternatives are generally better aligned with their lifestyles, where comfort and connectivity take precedence over speed. In the late 2000s, many cities introduced restrictions on cars in downtown areas in order to reduce traffic urgently. As a result, cycling - which until then was viewed as a recreational activity - became a daily mode of transport, with all the attendant benefits, such as enabling regular exercise.
"Public transport is being more widely adopted, and the use of cars is leveling off," says Kaufmann. "The emergence of smartphones and laptops has prompted many people to leave their cars at home, since these devices let you work or keep you entertained on a bus or train. So the shift is occurring not mainly for environmental reasons, but because of the convenience offered by these other modes of transport - even if the trips take longer."
Cycling taken up in all walks of life
The under-35 age bracket in particular is shunning cars, as they see driving as a waste of time. That has become especially true since the pandemic, and the trend is most pronounced in cities. "Some 40% of households in Lyon don't have a car," says Kaufmann. "In Bern, the figure is 60%." Other data further illustrate the change in behavior: "In 2000, 25% of Lausanne households didn't have a car, but by 2026, the proportion had grown to nearly 40%." People from all walks of life are embracing alternative modes of transport. "The idea that only urban hipsters get around on bikes is outdated," he says. "Students and bankers alike have turned to cycling. Some electric models have become luxury items - with the corresponding price tag. And in trains, you now see many middle managers in first class."
There's no doubt you'll still go to your grandmother's birthday party, but you might decide to hold a meeting by videoconference instead of in person.
Yet Kaufmann adds that there are still significant differences between urban and rural areas. "Public transport is more sparse in rural areas, although Switzerland's network covers the entire country - unlike the situation in Italy, for example. Also, for people living in the countryside, personal cars are still seen as a sign of freedom. Traditional attitudes remain strong and are being reinforced by the perception that cities are impossible to drive in and there's no parking - as if they're designed to enforce a car-free lifestyle."
Thinking twice before making the journey
In another societal shift, more people have been working from home since the pandemic, which has also changed our commuting habits. According to the latest figures from the Lemanic Panel study,* "40% of the active population works from home at least some of the time. As a result, people are working farther away from where their jobs are located and starting to rethink where they want to live," says Kaufmann. "Why should someone continue to pay high rent in the city when they can move permanently into their secondary residence?" At the same time, people are becoming more selective about when they travel: "There's no doubt you'll still go to your grandmother's birthday party, but you might decide to hold a meeting by videoconference instead of in person," says Kaufmann. "The preference is for trips made at a slower pace and closer to home - people want the journey to be enjoyable and, most of all, connected."
Does this spell the end of car travel? "No, cars are still necessary in this region," says Kaufmann. "And it won't be easy to push this modal share of transport below 20%." He gives the example of southwestern Lausanne: "Despite the construction of the tram, the way the area is laid out makes residents largely dependent on roads. The same holds true in the areas around Sion and Fribourg - those suburbs are hard to reach without a car."
*The Lémanic Panel study aims to measure changes in transportation behavior, spending habits and lifestyles more broadly over a five-year period based on a representative sample of 10,000 people in the Lake Geneva region - an area encompassing the cantons of Vaud and Geneva, part of the Chablais region in Valais, the districts of Broye and Gruyère in the canton of Fribourg, and, across the border, the French departments of Ain and Haute-Savoie.
Cars and driving have long been viewed as the ultimate manifestation of freedom. In his book Idées reçues sur l'automobile, Vincent Kaufmann deconstructs the idea that electric vehicles have been stripped of what makes cars virile. "Combustion engines have long been associated with the male gender - it's ingrained in our culture," he says. "It's about the power of the engine and, by analogy, the power of the male body. Motor vehicles also evoke a rebellious spirit, like a sports car that goes too fast and makes a lot of noise. Electric cars are nowhere near as flashy. That said, cars are amazing objects regardless of what's under the hood. It's just that we haven't used them wisely - they've invaded our space and become too important. Cars in and of themselves aren't the problem, but rather the policies we've designed around them."
Manly or not, owning a car is deeply embedded in our habits, even as car-sharing services catch on, such as Mobility in Switzerland and the BlablaCar carpooling network in France. Kaufmann evaluates this against the experience economy and post-materialist theory put forth by US political scientist Ronald F. Inglehart. "There are limits to the idea that humans no longer need to possess things, and not everyone subscribes to that idea," says Kaufmann. "In the Lemanic Panel study, we saw that the use of alternative modes of transport is plateauing. Respondents who share many things in one aspect of their lives tend to share less in others. For instance, someone who rents their home generally wants to own their car."
