Abstract
Less car travel increases prospects of limiting transport energy. Policy attempts to reduce car use by encouraging people to choose other modes face criticism that travel needs are not simply about choice but are structurally influenced, especially by urban form. Mullen and Marsden extend understanding of travel need by showing how uncertainty in housing and employment further constrains people’s control over travel, resulting in needs for complicated journeys often at short notice. Some respond to uncertainty by running a car even where this presents financial problems. Those without a vehicle face lost opportunities and hardship. In the face of increasing employment and housing precarity, policy needs to rethink focus on choice and instead find ways of meeting complex travel needs without extensive resort to cars.
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Notes
- 1.
These estimates compare trips and distance for each income quintile (Department for Transport 2016: NTS0705) with the average number of cars per household for income quintiles, and assuming an average of 2.2 cars/household for households with more than one car (Department for Transport 2016: NTS0703).
- 2.
We use pseudonyms throughout.
- 3.
In England, many private rented sector tenancies are Assured Shorthold Tenancies (ASTs). With ASTs tenants can face eviction after six months without reason. The landlord only has to give the tenants two months’ notice then gain a court order to lawfully evict the tenants. (see Shelter 2017; HM Government 1998).
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council [grant number EP/K011723/1] as part of the RCUK Energy Programme and by EDF as part of the R&D ECLEER Programme.
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Mullen, C., Marsden, G. (2018). The Car as a Safety-Net: Narrative Accounts of the Role of Energy Intensive Transport in Conditions of Housing and Employment Uncertainty. In: Hui, A., Day, R., Walker, G. (eds) Demanding Energy. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61991-0_7
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