Which policy measures can motivate active mobility in rural and semi-rural areas?

This study investigates which policy measures are able to motivate citizens in rural and semi-rural areas of Lower Austria to use active transport modes for everyday trips. A representative sample was asked to evaluate six walking- and eight cycling-oriented policy measures. We find that the revitalization of village/town centers and infrastructural measures are considered most motivating, and soft measures (such as information provision) least motivating. The respondents’ answers are found to depend on their current and intended mobility behavior, but only to a limited extent on their socio-demographic characteristics. Individuals who believe that active mobility is associated with time savings, freedom, ecological benefits, and health tend to feel significantly more motivated by most policy measures. Finally, we observe that respondents regard all policy measures as more motivating to others than to themselves. We discuss strategic answering and behavioral biases as potential explanations.