Changes in transport risk perception in urban populations in Norway from 2004 to 2013

ABSTRACT

Urban populations transport risk perception is interesting because it is associated with travel mode choices and use. This study investigates changes in transport-related risk constructs in the urban population in Norway in 2004 and 2013, and describes whether people perceive private or public to be associated with the highest risk. The results are based on self-completion questionnaire surveys conducted in two independent representative samples living in the same urban areas in 2004 (n = 592) and 2013 (n = 1035). Overall, the respondents perceived the risk as lower in 2013 than in 2004. For both time periods, people consistently assessed the risk constructs related to private motorized transportation as higher than corresponding risk in public transportation. The findings suggest that while transportation risk perception in urban populations may change over time, the pattern that private motorized transportation is associated with a higher perceived risk than public transportation remains stable.

KEYWORDS:

• transport risk
• change over time
• worry
• risk perception
• policy
• Norway

Acknowledgements

Thanks are due to Hans Brende Lind for contributing with data collection and preparing data for analyses. Thank you to Njål Andersen for constructive comments and English language editing.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Ingunn Olea Lund http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7412-4776

Additional information

Funding

The study was funded by the Norwegian Research Council’s Safety and Security in Transport (TRANSIKK) program [grant number 224754].