2024-03-19 05:00:00
It’s too hot ? Everyone in the car! At high temperatures, the automobile and its air conditioning are more attractive than other modes of transport, reveals a survey published on March 19 by the consulting firm 6t-Bureau de recherche, in partnership with the Ecological Transition Agency ( Ademe). This work compiles 7,000 interviews conducted online and by telephone.
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When temperatures become unbearable, we move less, the survey observes: “Three quarters of individuals significantly modify their activities and travel. » But the private car is the least affected mode: 27% of respondents say they use it less during heatwaves, but 16% use it more. For public transport, these proportions are respectively 39% and 3%, for non-electric cycling, 55% and 13%, and for walking, 55% and 9%.
Only the electric bike provides some relief for users subjected to stifling heat: 26% use it more, but 40% less. “Rising temperatures, automobiles in force: faced with global warming, how can we stop the vicious circle of automobility? »asks the consulting firm.
Geographer Michel Lussault, director of the Lyon Urban School, is not surprised by these results. “The automobile has established itself as an extension of the home, a bubble of comfort and integrity. Some surveys in the United States show that during heatwaves, people whose homes are not equipped with air conditioning take a drive to cool off.he says, specifying that car manufacturers also have their share of responsibility: “The ergonomics of the cabin strive to maximize comfort and pleasure. »
“Smoothing peak hours is possible”
For Nicolas Louvet, founder of 6t, one of the solutions consists of planning “the obligation of air conditioning in public transport”. Furthermore, “we should invent a tax on automobile air conditioning”, he says. But the consultant prefers to retain from his investigation “a positive aspect” : “Peak hour smoothing is possible. »
In fact, on heatwave days, 20% of respondents bring their activities forward earlier in the day, and 12% move them back, i.e., in total “a third of trips which are delayed in time, leading to a reduction in traffic during peak hours”, we can read in the survey. These discrepancies mainly concern leisure activities, such as walking, physical activity or visits to relatives, practices “not constrained, but which contribute to social life and the well-being of individuals”.
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