How pregnancy might change women’s travel behavior

Understanding how to mitigate car dependency in cities has become increasingly important. Life events, such as childbirth, have been reported to influence parents' travel behavior, often leading to greater car dependency. While there is knowledge regarding changes in travel behavior among parents after childbirth, there is less knowledge about how pregnancy itself might change women’s (mothers’) travel behavior, who bear the primary burden of this event. The present study aims to explore (travel) behavioral responses of women to pregnancy. A latent class analysis was conducted using data from a survey of women (those who have recently experienced this event) in Tehran (n = 646). Employing a (retrospective) survey study, participants were asked about their daily travel behaviors, attitudes, and sociodemographic attributes before and during pregnancy. The results indicate that women show four transition patterns of their travel behavior in response to pregnancy: increasingly car-dependents, consistent walkers, transit leavers, and continual car-independents. Nearly half of respondents (increasingly car-dependents) utilized cars and walking for their trips prior to pregnancy; however, following pregnancy, there was a notable decrease in walking and an increase in car use. Quarter of respondents (consistent walkers) primarily use walking before pregnancy, and this travel behavior remains unchanged after this event. Factors such as attitudes towards travel modes, car ownership, economic level, educational attainment, and child order in household play role on respondents’ transition patterns of travel behavior following pregnancy. Results show that those experiencing greater attitudinal changes being more likely to transition away from sustainable travel modes, while those with more stable attitudes showing greater resistance to such transitions.