01043493

Component

For decades now, significant majorities of Americans say they support protecting the natural environment, even if it involves some economic cost. Yet during the same time period, each year Americans have driven farther than the previous year, owned more vehicles, used them for a larger percentage of all trips, and shared them with other passengers less often. Vehicles today are cleaner and more fuel efficient than in the recent past, but many of the potential gains to the environment are being offset by higher consumption. This paper explores this apparent contradiction by addressing the relations between environmental knowledge, environmental attitudes, and vehicle ownership and use. Using statistical analysis of responses to a knowledge-attitudes-behavior questionnaire administered in the Sacramento, California metropolitan region, hypotheses are tested concerning the relations of environmental knowledge and attitudes to household numbers and types of cars owned, annual vehicle miles traveled, and fuel consumption. Analysis reveals that 1) those who indicate pro-environmental attitudes know more about the environmental impacts of vehicle ownership and use, 2) the households of respondents with high levels of environmental knowledge own more fuel efficient vehicles, and 3) the households of respondents with pro-environmental attitudes own fewer and more fuel efficient vehicles, drive them less, and, consequently consume less fuel than do households of respondents who do not share pro-environmental attitudes. Public education and social marketing campaigns that take these findings into account may help expand the environmental benefits of household-level environmental knowledge and environmental attitudes to broader social and geographic contexts.

01042056

07-2978

English

20p

2007

Transportation Research Board 86th Annual Meeting

CD-ROM

Figures (3) ; References (21) ; Tables (2)

Attitudes; Automobile ownership; Automobile travel; Energy consumption; Environment; Environmental impacts; Environmental protection; Fuel consumption; Knowledge; Natural resources; Vehicle miles of travel

Sacramento (California)

Energy; Environment; Highways; I15: Environment

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2007 Paper #07-2978

TRIS, TRB

Feb 8 2007 7:42PM