Key events as signifiers for the ‘window of opportunity’ to reduce car use

Life events have long been discussed as a ‘window of opportunity’ for promoting pro-environmental behaviors such as car use reduction. However, findings from this study suggest that it is key events, rather than life events per se, that drive the emergence of such windows of opportunity. This distinction is crucial for understanding when and how the psychological prerequisites for desirable behavior change are most likely to arise. While researchers have focused on the relation between life events, habit disruption, and behavior change, less attention has been given to how life events relate to decisive factors for deliberate decision-making. Based on a mobility biography approach and the related Framework of RoUtIne Transitions in daily travel (FRUIT), this cross-sectional study explores how periods of life events relate to the potential for, and motivation for, reducing car usage. Online survey data from a sample of Swedish car users were analyzed using group comparisons and partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings show that changed travel routines relate to stronger motivation for car use reduction and weaker daily travel habits, regardless of whether the change being provoked by life events or triggered for other reasons. It is concluded that life events indeed are associated with the ‘window of opportunity’ for car use reduction; however, only when they turn into key events and hence, are interconvertible with other events triggering changes in travel routines. We advocate for a broadened perspective on the types of events that may activate preferable psychological prerequisites for reducing car use.