Henkilöauton käyttömahdollisuuden puutteen rooli liikkumishaitan syntymisessä

A sustainable transport system is environmentally friendly, economically efficient, and socially just. Private cars produce more than half of Finland's road traffic greenhouse gas emissions, but on the other hand, accessibility by car is superior compared to other modes of transport. To be able to evaluate the importance of private cars in people's lives, it is necessary to ask what role does the lack of access to use a car play in terms of transport disadvantages. The dissertation consists of five articles in which the role of access to use a car is discussed from different perspectives. The research utilizes two research data: data from a survey conducted in Hervanta and Kaleva in Tampere (2020) and data from the Finnish national travel survey (2016).

Transport disadvantages can generate latent demand, that can affect wellbeing negatively. Based on the results, not having access to a car can create transport disadvantage, with the effect depending on life situation. Based on the research, the lack of driving license does not generate latent demand, thus not having a driving license appears to be more of a voluntary or a personal decision, that people have adjusted in in terms of transport disadvantage. Latent demand due to transport disadvantages is mainly oriented towards leisure trips, while routine trips do not generate latent demand due to transport disadvantages. However, also work and study trips as well as accepting a job are affected by transport disadvantages, thus affecting the financial situation and wellbeing of the individual. In car deficient households, i.e. households with two drivers but only one car, the access to use a car within the household is strongly gendered, so that the male of the household has more often access to use the car always or almost always, compared to female.

The study highlights the difference between the access to use a car and car ownership. When studying mobility options, it is important to shift from studying house- hold car ownership to examining the access to use a car. The ownership of a car in the household does not guarantee that the benefits of the car in terms of mobility are distributed equally between the members of the household. The study also gives indications that driving license ownership could be used as an indicator when studying the need for the use of a car in urban areas. The study also highlights the importance of planning society’s services and the transport system together, thus minimizing the transport disadvantage caused by lack of access to a car.