Geographic Transport Planning Principles In Norwegian City Regions: The Case Of Work Travel In Stavanger

The Norwegian Parliament has recently carried out a motion for all Norwegian city regions to curb all growth in private car use and redirect urban travel into public transport, cycling and walking. The county of Rogaland has therefore devised a set of transport and mobility measures for the Stavanger city region, such as a bus rapid system, a cycle highway, toll ring roads, sustainable mobility strategies, but also increased road capacity. This paper examines some of the underlying geographic hypotheses of sustainable transport planning aiming at reduced private car use.The Stavanger city region is characterised by dispersed development and high levels of car ownership and use, as well as an affluent population. Work travel data is used to investigate geographic factors that are assumed to impact on travel behaviour, such as travel distance, centrality and proximity to public transport. The question is whether the local work travel behaviour confirms typical assumptions about transport-oriented development. This study contributes to a better understanding of urban travel choice and its factors, thus helping to optimise local government efforts to reduce car travel.