Eurobarometer: Europeans want cleaner and improved mobility

Although the private car remains the main mode of transport for EU citizens, there is great awareness about its impact on the environment and traffic situation. Likewise, with increased fuel prices and growing evidence of climate change, the transport sector has become the object of increased scrutiny amongst the public. According to a Eurobarometer opinion survey released today, most Europeans favour measures to promote cleaner and more sustainable mobility and to encourage the use of public transport. The survey also revealed citizens' attitudes towards the ways in which they want the EU to promote biofuels. Their views on air transport security and air passenger rights were part of the barometer as well.

This survey clearly shows that mobility is an essential part of EU citizens' lives and that they expect a high quality and reliable transport system. We are working for a transport policy focused clearly on our citizens’ needs and expectations as reflected by this poll: better environmental protection, higher levels of safety, less congestion in big cities and stronger rights as consumers. - Jacques Barrot, European Commission Vice-President in charge of Transport

The Eurobarometer survey titled 'Attitudes on issues related to EU Transport Policy' [*.pdf] covered all 27 Member States of the European Union on a randomly selected sample of around 26,000 citizens on issues related to urban and public transport, biofuels, environmental and traffic aspects, flight safety and passenger rights.

Private motorized transport remains predominant in the European Union: 81% of EU citizens have a car in their household. The majority of EU citizens (51%) name the car as their main mode of transport, followed by public transport (21%), walking (15%) and motorbike (2%). There are however large differences between citizens of different EU member states (graph, click to enlarge).

Improvements to public transportation, such as better schedule (29%) and better connections to regular destinations (28%), might encourage those citizens who primarily use their cars for daily mobility to drive less often. However, a remarkable proportion (22%) of car users says that under no circumstances would they use their car less.

The vast majority of the EU citizens (78%) share the opinion that the type of car and the way people use them have an important impact on the environment. The majority (35%) of respondents believe that the best way to reverse the rise of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions due to road transport would be to permit only the sale of less polluting vehicles. Another 30% think that CO2 emissions could be reduced most efficiently by promoting, via tax incentives, the purchase of fuel-efficient vehicles.

When asked what method, if any, they had actually used in the past one year to save fuel, more than half of the respondents who are the primary driver of a car in their household tried to do it either by adapting their driving style (57%) or by walking or cycling more (56%). Fewer respondents used public transport more often (26%), or changed to another car which consumes less fuel (25%), while 16% did not use any of the methods indicated in the questionnaire and 4% of them applied all the methods mentioned to save fuel (graph, click to enlarge).

How to promote biofuels?

According to 36% of EU citizens, the best method to encourage the use of biofuels is to make it cheaper via tax incentives. The second most preferred (32%) measure is to define compulsory standards for manufacturers to produce cars that use biofuels. The remaining measures were mentioned by a much smaller proportion (around one tenth) of the citizens. Crop subsidies for biofuel production was mentioned by 13%, and higher taxes for polluting vehicles using traditional fossil fuels by 10% of the respondents (graph, click to enlarge).

There is a high level of variation between individual Member States and between gender and age groups in the degree to which different measures were mentioned:
energy :: sustainability :: mobility :: public transport :: fuel efficiency :: climate change :: carbon dioxide :: biofuels :: European Union ::

The Finnish citizens were the most likely to mention (more than half of the population) that reducing the price of biofuel would best promote the consumption of bio fuel (54%). A relatively high proportion of the Swedish (48%), the Lithuanians (47%) and the Hungarians (46%) also shared this opinion. The Spanish were least likely to pick this approach – - to decrease biofuel prices –- to encourage the use of it (20%). Still, in most Member States (in 20 countries out of the 27), this incentive was given the highest preference.

In the remaining 7 (seven) countries, (Portugal, the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy and Greece) "compulsory standards for the manufacturers to produce cars that use biofuel" was the most trusted measure. Among the citizens in the above countries, the Portuguese were the most supportive (43%) of this method. They were followed by those in the UK (40%), in Germany (39%), Austria (38%) and Spain (36%). This method was considered to be the least efficient way to encourage the purchase and the use of bio fuel by the citizens in Malta (14%) and Finland (16%).

In every country, less than one fourth of the population considered crop subsidies for biofuel production the best method to encourage the use of biofuel. This ratio was the highest among the Hungarians (24%) and was also relatively high in Slovakia (21%) and Poland (20%)- all important agricultural countries. This incentive was considered to be the best by only 5% in Germany 6% in the UK, and 7% in Ireland.

At the level of the EU27 countries, higher taxes for polluting vehicles using traditional fossil fuel was also considered to be an efficient tool to encourage the consumption of biofuel by only a very small proportion of the respondents, but there are differences among the individual Member States in this respect: the citizens in Luxemburg (17%) and Denmark (17%) mentioned it relatively most frequently, while the Hungarians (3%) and the Polish (8%) quite rarely.


Women were more likely than men to favour compulsory standards for manufacturers to produce cars that use biofuels, while men considered all the other incentives more efficient than the one mentioned by the highest proportion of female respondents.
In the age group of 25 to 39 years of age, there was a higher ratio of those who mentioned more frequently than the other age groups tax incentives to make bio fuel cheaper. Other demographic groups (besides the age group of 25 - 39, the most qualified respondents, the manual workers and the primary car users) also thought that tax incentives to make biofuels cheaper would be the most efficient way to encourage their use.

At the same time, a higher proportion of the members of the youngest age group consider higher taxes for polluting vehicles using traditional fossil fuels to be the best incentive. Besides the youngest age group, the option for higher taxes for polluting vehicles was indicated by a relatively higher proportion of those who are still in school, too.

The highest proportion of respondents in the age group of 25 - 39 thought that compulsory standards for manufacturers are the best way to encourage the use of biofuels; the same attitude hold those who are still in school and employees with relatively higher ratio, too. This method was considered to be the best to encourage the use of bio fuel by more of those who drive their car than by others.

It is more than evident, that the ratio of those who found crop subsidies for biofuel production to be the best way to promote the use of biofuels was the highest among citizens in rural zones and the lowest among citizens in metropolitan zones. The ratio of those who share the above opinion is relatively higher among manual workers than in the other demographic segments.


Three in four (74%) EU citizens are well aware that the type of car and the way people use them have a significant influence on the traffic situation in their immediate area. An overwhelming majority (90% of respondents) feel that the traffic situation in their area should be improved by means of a better public transport system (49%), introducing limitations in the city centres (17%), speed limits (17%) or charges for road usage (5%).

A slim majority of EU citizens is prepared to pay more to use less polluting transport (54%). However, the majority of Europeans (60%) do not agree with the statement that all road users should pay for congestion and environmental damage through road tolls, while 35% do (graph, click to enlarge).


A large number of the citizens in the EU (38%) responded that they seldom fly, and are thus not really competent to answer questions concerning security controls at airports. The majority of respondents that do fly consider airport security controls appropriate (61%), one quarter (24%) find them insufficient and only 16% think they are excessive. Finally, 46% of EU citizens are informed about passenger rights at airports in EU territory, while 49% are not aware of them. Among the later, around two thirds never fly while one third said that they were not aware of these rights in spite of the fact that they do travel by plane.

References:
European Commission, Eurobarometer: Attitudes on issues related to EU Transport Policy - Analytical report [*.pdf], July 2007.

Financial Mirror: Europeans want improved mobility - July 26, 2007.