Factors affecting propensity to lift-share for children’s activities

Research Problem: Families with children travel by car more frequently than any other household type and hence significantly contribute to transport externalities. Lift-sharing is a potential time-effective and convenient means of mitigating these effects. Whilst some research has been conducted on lift-sharing for the school run, there is little research beyond this context, particularly around lift-sharing for children’s activities (e.g., sport). Study Aim: Consequently, the aim of this study was to assess the current prevalence of lift-sharing (for children’s activities and other types of trips) in families with young children, the factors influencing its uptake, the experiences and attitudes of regular lift-sharers, and whether previous literature findings on reciprocity applied in this context to gain a deeper understanding of how and why families participate in activity lift-sharing. Research Design: A mixed-methods approach was applied, comprising (1) a travel survey of 474 families to establish socio-demographic and activity factors that influence lift-share prevalence for activity trips; and (2) 15 semi-structured interviews with parents to further explore how and why families participate in activity lift-sharing. Results: Factors influencing lift-sharing decisions for activity travel were number of cars owned, number of seats in the car, settlement type, income, time of day and location of the activity, number of children attending, parking availability, whether the activity is a sporting activity or not, and number of close friends of the child at the same activity. Salient motivating factors triggering lift-sharing included intentions to reduce chauffeuring and parents wanting their children to socialise. Trust was an initial imperative component of lift-share formation, and attitudes towards reciprocity supported previous literature findings relating to the variability of acceptable reciprocation and the role of fairness.