Commuters concern for the environment and knowledge of the effects of vehicle emissions

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1 Transportation Research Part D 9 (2004) Notes and comments Commuters concern for the environment and knowledge of the effects of vehicle emissions D. Walton *, J.A. Thomas, V. Dravitzki Opus International Consultants, Central Laboratories, 138, Hutt Park Road, P.O. Box 30845, 845 Lower Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand Abstract Attitudes towards the environment and knowledge of the polluting effects of vehicle emissions were surveyed in 566 train and bus commuters, private motor vehicle commuters and smoky vehicle commuters. Environmental concern was found to significantly correlate with level of contribution to an environmental organisation but not with levels of environmental attitudes or emissions knowledge. Smoky vehicle drivers did not have lower levels of knowledge of emissions or lower levels of environmental concern compared to other private motor vehicle commuters. Train commuters showed no greater concern for the environment than car commuters. Ó 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Vehicle emissions; Environmental concern; Environmental knowledge; Mode choice 1. Introduction The estimated number of premature deaths due to vehicle emissions in New Zealand is about 80% of the number of fatalities caused by car accidents (Fisher et al., 2002) but until recently, this hidden road toll has received little attention. Besides technological intervention behavioural change is considered necessary for sustainable reduction in vehicle emissions. On this premise the principle concern is whether there are pre-existing relationships between levels of environmental concern, knowledge of vehicle emissions and emission reducing behaviours. There is a reported strong relationship between environmental attitudes and self-reported willingness to perform pro-environment behaviours in the transportation context (Garvill, 1999; Maloney and Ward, 1973). Car drivers are more likely to respond as willing to reduce their use of * Corresponding author. Tel.: ; fax: address: darren.walton@opus.co.nz (D. Walton) /$ - see front matter Ó 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi: /j.trd

2 336 D. Walton et al. / Transportation Research Part D 9 (2004) the automobile when their concern for the environment is high (Garvill, 1999). Likewise, car drivers with high concern for the environment are more willing to support regulations reducing car commuting (Garvill, 1999). However, self-reported behaviours need not align with the demonstrated behaviours of different commuter groups (Grob, 1995). This study compares variations in environmental attitudes and knowledge in commuters. Train and bus commuters and groups of private commuters (including smoky vehicle commuters) are investigated to determine levels of knowledge of emissions, general environmental concern, specific attitudes towards emissions-related behaviours, individual pressure to reduce emissions and contributions to an environmental organisation. Three hypotheses are generated: (1) public transport commuters will have a higher concern for the environment and higher knowledge of vehicle emissions related issues compared to private commuter groups; (2) Smoky vehicle drivers will have lower levels of knowledge of emissions and lower levels of environmental concern compared to other motor vehicle commuters; (3) Environmental concern and knowledge of emissions will be positively correlated with behaviour in the form of contributions to environmental organisations. 2. Method Approximately 1200 questionnaires were handed to train commuters and bus commuters. Questionnaires were mailed to motor vehicle commuters identified by licence plate details. 270 questionnaires were mailed to drivers of vehicles that visibly trailed smoke from their exhaust for at least three seconds. The overall response rate was 50%, with a higher rate for those who were handed surveys. The ages ranged between 15 and 74 years (M ¼ 40.2 years, SD ¼ 12.7 years). There were 287 males and 279 females. All participants received a $1 lottery ticket. Participants either received a questionnaire with a CERI scale (Zimmermann, 1996) or a composite scale of 25 items coined the General Environment Concern scale (GEC). The CERI scale was designed to measure the concern for the environment in a population of children, but has been extended to an adult population in America (see Zimmermann, 1996). 1 The GEC uses items from five previously reported scales: 10 items from Van Liere and Dunlap (1981); 6 items from Weigel and Weigel (1978) concerning pollution and natural resources; 7 items from Stern et al. (1993) and two items from Zimmermann (1996). The GEC scale reliability was assessed, Cronbach s alpha ¼ Environmental knowledge was measured using a new 31-item scale. Questions tested understanding of vehicle emissions, pollutants, and health risks associated with emissions. For example, participants were asked whether, Traffic congestion worsens vehicle emission problems and whether, A typical vehicle s emissions contain dangerous levels of mercury. The questionnaire included two items concerning known rationalisations for attitude-behaviour inconsistencies: futility and fatalism. Other items measured perceived future outcomes and individual pressure to reduce emissions. Specific environmental behaviour was measured with 1 A pilot of 116 people determined the reliability of the CERI scale on a New Zealand adult population, Cronbach s alpha ¼ 0.78.

3 D. Walton et al. / Transportation Research Part D 9 (2004) items, arranged to create a Guttman scale measuring contributions to environmental organisations. 3. Results Initial testing showed differences in age and gender so these were controlled in the following analyses (alpha ¼ 0.05). The means and standard deviations for the main dependant variables of the commuter groups are presented in Table 1. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) with age and gender as covariates found no significant difference in knowledge of emissions across all commuter types. No significant difference was detected across the commuter types and their concern for the environment measured by the GEC. Similarly, the mean level of contribution to an environmental organisation did not differ among the groups. Specific attitudes showed no significant variation across the five commuter groups. Again, belief in arguments for futility and fatalism did not vary across the different emissions groups. ANCOVAs show that there is no significant variation in emissions knowledge or concern for the environment between the different cities. Partial correlations, with age and gender controlled, for environmental concern, knowledge and specific attitudes are presented in Table 2. The positive correlation of knowledge of emissions with concern for the environment reveals a significant but small association between these measures. General environmental concern positively correlates with a self-reported pressure to reduce vehicle emissions and the expectation that vehicle emissions are a problem for the future. Table 1 Mean scores for environmental concern, knowledge, specific attitudes, and level of contribution to environmental organisations for the five samples W. Train C. Bus W. Car A. Car W. Smoky General Environmental (11.3) (11.3) (10.2) (13.6) (11.6) Concern Scale (GEC) Knowledge of Emissions Scale (9.1) (10.7) (9.4) (10.0) (10.1) Contribution to an Environmental 0.99 (1.2) 1.18 (1.4) 1.07 (1.5) 1.09 (1.3) 1.05 (1.5) Organisation Scale Individual Pressure to reduce 2.92 (1.6) 3.39 (1.5) 3.11 (1.5) 3.31 (1.4) 3.16 (1.4) emissions Belief that making changes to 2.11 (0.9) 1.95 (0.9) 2.16 (0.9) 2.10 (0.9) 1.99 (0.9) own emissions will not make a difference (Futility) Belief that it is too late to 1.98 (0.9) 2.07 (1.0) 1.94 (0.8) 1.87 (0.8) 1.99 (0.9) rectify environmental damage (Fatalism) Expected level of emissions 6.39 (1.9) 6.30 (2.0) 5.98 (2.4) 6.00 (2.1) 6.46 (2.2) pollution in the future Percentage of days commuting by private motor vehicle 4.1% 25.0% 97.9% 96.1% Note: Wellington Train (W. Train, N ¼ 99), Christchurch Bus (C. Bus, N ¼ 170), Wellington Car (W. Car, N ¼ 94), Auckland Car (A. Car, N ¼ 129), and Smoky Vehicle (W. Smoky, N ¼ 74) Commuters.

4 338 D. Walton et al. / Transportation Research Part D 9 (2004) Table 2 Partial correlation scores, where age and gender has been controlled, for environmental concern, knowledge, specific attitudes and level of contribution to environmental organisations General Environmental Concern Scale (GEC) Knowledge of Emissions Scale General Environmental Concern Scale (GEC) Knowledge of Emissions Scale * Contribution to an Environmental Organisation * * Scale Individual Pressure to reduce emissions * * * Belief that making changes to own emissions will )0.338 * )0.163 * )0.215 * not make a difference (Futility) Belief that it is too late to rectify environmental )0.217 * )0.119 * )0.099 * damage (Fatalism) Expected level of emissions pollution in the future * * * p < 0:05. Contribution to an Environmental Organisation Scale General environmental concern negatively correlates with belief in futility and belief in fatalism. Knowledge of emissions positively correlated with self-reported pressure to reduce vehicle emissions. Knowledge of emissions negatively correlates with measures in futility and fatalism. In general the measures of environmental attitudes correlate moderately with self-reported level of contribution to an environmental organisation in the previous 12 months (see Table 2). Partial correlations found that as the level of contribution to an environmental organisation increased, levels of environmental concern and knowledge also increased. Specific attitudes also positively correlate with contribution to an environmental organisation. Both individual pressure to reduce vehicle emissions and future expectations correlated with the contribution to an environmental organisation. Agreements with arguments for the futility of dealing with emissions issues or with fatalistic statements about emissions negatively correlate with contribution to an environmental organisation. 4. Discussion In contrast to work done elsewhere (Garvill, 1999; Kaiser et al., 1999; Schahn and Holzer, 1990; Hamid and Cheng, 1995; Heberlein and Black, 1976; Grob, 1995; Tracy and Oskamp, ) environmental concern and knowledge of emissions were found to be independent of behaviour exhibited by the commuting samples in New Zealand. This result does not support hypothesis one or hypothesis two. The sample of smoky vehicle drivers did not have lower levels of knowledge of emissions or lower levels of environmental concern compared to other private motor vehicle commuters. With similar implications, train commuters showed no greater concern for the environment than car commuters. Despite the wide range of environmental concern and levels of knowledge about vehicle emissions, people are just as likely to be very highly concerned for the environment driving a smoky vehicle as commuting by electric train. The use of several measures was to ensure that any failure to find a link between environmental concern and behaviour was not attributable to the measure of environmental concern (see Weigel

5 D. Walton et al. / Transportation Research Part D 9 (2004) and Newman, 1976). There is a moderate relationship between environmental concern and contributions to environmental organisations, indicating the validity of the scales and confirming hypothesis three. The results do not necessarily contradict those researchers who find a relationship between environmental attitudes, behavioural intention, and behaviour (Garvill, 1999; Kaiser et al., 1999). The important difference is that in this study actual behaviour was measured in the form of different commuting types. A further explanation may lie in a cultural context; New Zealanders may have less concern for environmental pollutants than European communities (Kaiser et al., 1999; Garvill, 1999). Nonetheless, these results highlight that factors intervene in this context to undermine what is otherwise a natural alignment between pro-environmental attitudes and proenvironmental behaviours. 5. Conclusions The results suggest that a policy that aims to change emission behaviour by improving environmental attitudes and knowledge will not reinforce a pre-existing relationship, and is likely to be ineffective. The New Zealand context may be the underlying factor that separates these results from those found overseas, although many other complex and elusive factors can intervene between the ideal alignment of environmental concern and pro-environmental behaviour. Acknowledgements This research was conducted within a programme of public good research funded by the Foundation for Science, Research and Technology (OPSX0002), New Zealand. References Fisher, G.W., Rolfe, K.A., Kjellstrom, T., Woodward, A., Hales, S., Sturman, A.P., Kingham, S., Peterson, J., Shrestha, R., King, D., Health effects due to motor vehicle air pollution in New Zealand (Ministry of Transport Report). Retrieved April 20, 2002, from Garvill, J., Choice of transportation mode: factors influencing drivers willingness to reduce personal car use and support car regulations. In: Foddy, M., Smithson, M., Schneider, S., Hogg, M. (Eds.), Resolving Social Dilemmas: Dynamic, Structural, and Intergroup Aspects. Taylor & Francis, Philadelphia. Grob, A., A structural model of environmental attitudes and behaviour. Journal of Experimental Psychology 15, Hamid, P.N., Cheng, S., Predicting anti-pollution behavior: the role of molar behavioural intentions, past behavior, and locus of control. Environment and Behavior 27, Heberlein, T.A., Black, J.S., Attitudinal specificity and the prediction of behavior in a field setting. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 33, Kaiser, F.G., Wolfing, S., Fuhrer, U., Environmental attitude and ecological behaviour. Journal of Environmental Psychology 19, Maloney, M.P., Ward, M.P., Ecology: let s hear from the people. American Psychologist 28,

6 340 D. Walton et al. / Transportation Research Part D 9 (2004) Schahn, J., Holzer, E., Studies of individual environmental concern: the role of knowledge, gender, and background variables. Environment and Behavior 22, Stern, P.C., Dietz, T., Kalof, L., Value orientations, gender, and environmental concern. Environment and Behavior 253, Tracy, A.P., Oskamp, S., Relationships among ecologically responsible behaviors. Journal of Environmental Systems 13, Van Liere, K.D., Dunlap, R.E., Environmental concern: does it make a difference how it s measured? Environment and Behavior 136, Weigel, R.H., Newman, L.S., Increasing attitude-behavior correspondence by broadening the scope of the behavioral measure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 33 (6), Weigel, R., Weigel, J., Environmental concern: the development of a measure. Environment and Behavior 10, Zimmermann, L.K., The development of an environmental values short form. The Journal of Environment Education 28,