The role of mothers’ past transport behaviour and environmentally friendly mindset in their children’s sustainable transport choices in early adulthood

This longitudinal study examines the correlation between mothers’ environmentally friendly mindset and transport behaviours during their offspring’s adolescence and the likelihood of their offspring adopting sustainable commuting modes (e.g. public transport and active transport) in early adulthood. An integrated choice and latent variable model were used to investigate these associations, utilizing data from 678 mother-child pairs in waves 4 and 10 of the UK understanding society. The study finds that maternal environment-friendly mindsets during their offspring’s adolescence are associated with a higher likelihood of offspring choosing public transport modes to work in early adulthood. Additionally, the frequency of mothers’ use of buses and bicycles during their offspring’s adolescence was positively associated with the offspring’s choice of public transport mode and active transport mode to work in adulthood, separately. In contrast, negative relationships are observed between the mothers’ frequent car use during their offspring’s adolescence and the offspring’s likelihood of adopting active transport and public transport modes to work in early adulthood, respectively. This study provides insights into intergenerational correlation of sustainable transport behaviours from a longitudinal perspective. Furthermore, this study recommends that interventions promoting sustainable commuting behaviours in early adulthood can be broadened to account for the long-term role of maternal sustainable transport practices during their children’s formative years.