A survey to measure cognitive biases influencing mobility choices

Mobility is a central issue in the transition to a more sustainable lifestyle. The average daily distance traveled by the French population has increased considerably, from 5 km on average in the 1950s to 45 km on average in 2011 [58], as has the number of personal cars (11,860 million cars in 1970 [7] compared to 38,3 million in 2021 [15, 28]). For example in Toulouse, cars concentrate 74% of the distances traveled by the inhabitants and contribute up to 88% to GHG emissions [25]. The evolution of mobility is therefore an essential question, both for the global climate crisis and for public health: negative impact of a sedentary lifestyle [9], road accidents, air and sound pollution [44]. Indeed, 40000 deaths per year are attributable to exposure to fine particles (PM2.5) and 7000 deaths per year attributable to exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2), i.e. 7% and 1% of the total annual mortality [38]; the 2-month lockdown of spring 2020 in France saved 2300 deaths by reducing exposure to particles, and 1200 more deaths by reducing exposure to nitrogen dioxide [38].