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Introduction The aim of the present study was to examine differences in public transport use, quality perceptions, and travel satisfaction and their relation to life satisfaction across five generations. Methods Self-report questionnaires (online or by phone) were collected from 3257 respondents (aged 16–90) with varying degree of public transport use, across five cities in northern Europe (Stockholm, Helsinki, Oslo, Copenhagen, Bergen). The data were analyzed in three steps: (i) explorative using Kruskal-Wallis Anovas, (ii) conceptual model testing using PLS-SEM, and (iii) analyses of generational differences regarding public transport quality dimensions, travel satisfaction and life satisfaction through Analyses of variance. Results In line with our hypothesis and previous research, we find that satisfaction with travel had a positive relationship with life satisfaction, showing once again the importance of acknowledging people's travel satisfaction. Levels of satisfaction linearly increased with generation, but the effect of travel on life satisfaction did not, thus indicating that travel satisfaction is equally important to all. Security/safety was furthermore an important quality attribute directly related to both satisfaction with travel and to life satisfaction. We observed, using multigroup analyses, that the youngest generations are very similar with respect to the importance of quality attributes. People in these generations also travel frequently and have active lifestyles, and are hence very dependent on the transport system. Conclusions It is concluded that, we need to improve travel experiences and emphasize secure and safe travel, especially for the young, as this is related to their life satisfaction.

Introduction: Travel behavior research has only started to address how travel affects emotional wellbeing. The development of measurement methods is an important goal of this research.Methods: A re ...

Background Recent research on travel has theoretically and empirically explained how everyday travel contributes to people’s life satisfaction. Most of these studies have been conducted with adults and mainly focused on the commute to work, with little known about how travel might affect children’s life satisfaction. Children and young people also travel on a daily basis to destinations such as school, but their choices are often mediated by their parent(s) or guardians. As well, in many cases they are escorted (e.g. an adult takes them) so their sense of control over such choices is likely diminished. Children (under the legal driving age) cannot operate a motorized vehicle, so their choice set for independent travel is in most cases smaller than adults. We would argue that both public health policies and school policies should be informed by research showing what factors influence children’s life satisfaction. Despite transport being a fundamental part of most children’s lives, how it might affect life satisfaction is currently unknown. Methods The data for this research comes from Canada, Japan, and Sweden. The surveys were distributed at public elementary schools. In total, 529 participant responses (184 in Canada, 189 in Japan, 156 in Sweden) were kept for this research. Simultaneous equation modelling was used to account for the various interactions possible between socio-demographics, independent mobility, travel attributes, social interaction, travel satisfaction, and life satisfaction. Results The results find that satisfaction with travel is associated to life satisfaction and that the possibility of independent travel (i.e. being allowed to travel without an adult) is strongly associated to travel satisfaction (TS), and indirectly to life satisfaction (LS). All modes apart from cycling were negatively associated with travel satisfaction and indirectly with life satisfaction. A negative indirect relationship between females and travel satisfaction was found, though no direct relation was found. The only significant result from the multi-group analyses between the countries were stronger negative associations between public transport frequency with TS and LS for Swedish children than for Canadian and Japanese children. This demonstrates that our findings of the TS-LS relationship and the other results are equally strong across the three countries. Conclusions As a global measure of well-being, the implications suggest that improving satisfaction with travel through greater autonomy can improve life satisfaction for children.

Background Since 2000, considerable research has focused on explaining children’s travel such as mode choice, with particular focus on physically active modes as a contribution to children’s physical well-being. However, much less research has looked at other domains of children’s well-being such as psychological. This research examines several questions relating children’s travel to their psychological well-being. Methods Questionnaires were developed that included psychological measures to children’s travel diaries. Relevant to this paper psychological questions included: a general satisfaction with their trip to school; trip-specific stressful-relaxing scale; trip-specific bored-alert scale; and trip-specific appreciation (worst-best imaginable) scale. The questionnaires were completed by children aged 10-12 in Canada, Sweden, and Japan. The timing of the distribution aimed at limiting climate differences so that surveys were first completed in Canada (October-early November), then Sweden (November-December), and finally in Japan (January). Relevant statistical analysis (ANOVA) is used to compare results by mode (active travel, car, public transport) and gender. Only the trip to school is included in this study. Results Current results are limited to Canada, though for the conference comparisons across countries are expected. H1 (satisfaction with trip to school is dependent on gender and mode): gender, not statistically significant (NSS); mode, statistically significant. AT>car>PT. H2 (the level of stressful-relaxing is related to gender and mode): gender, SS; mode, NSS. Boys>girls. H3 (the level of bored-alert is related to gender and mode): both are NSS. H4 (the level of appreciation is related to gender and mode): gender, SS; mode, NSS. Boys>girls. Conclusions Children who travelled to school by active modes are more likely to be very satisfied with their trip to school. Boys are more relaxed during their trip and they are more likely to feel that their trip to school is close to being the best imaginable. Future work should examine what is associated with trips that are higher ranked by these measures.