Coordinating connected practices: A social practice perspective on sustainable commuting

Abstract

The reliance on cars for everyday mobility creates a significant barrier to reducing transport emissions, and existing policy measures have been inadequate in promoting sufficient sustainable private mobility. Drawing on social practice theory, and with parallels to the concept of trip chaining, this article argues that the gap between current policy measures and sustainable mobility stems from neglecting the coordination of connected practices. Using survey data on commuting practices in Oslo, designed to focus on practice connections, we employ logistic regression analysis to identify connections between commuting and other everyday practices. Our findings reveal that commuting practices are positioned within a nexus of coordinated practices embedded in material and spatial-temporal arrangements. Specifically, commuting practices connected with shopping, childcare, and leisure activities foster car dependencies. Material and spatial-temporal arrangements of different work practices foster car dependency for the work commute: those working shift hours, that needed to transport work equipment, and who had work tasks across multiple geographical locations were more dependent on commuting by car. The results suggest that car commuting offers greater scope for negotiating the coordination of connected practices. We discuss the implications of our findings for policy approaches for sustainable mobility, arguing that cross-sectoral policy initiatives focused on the ways in which practice connections are coordinated are necessary.