Transport Policy 39 (2015) 4854

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Transport Policy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tranpol

Eco-driving: Drivers understanding of the concept and implications

for future interventions
Helena Strmberg n, I.C. MariAnne Karlsson, Oskar Rexfelt
Design & Human Factors, Product and Production Development, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-442 96 Gteborg, Sweden

art ic l e i nf o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:
Received 4 December 2013
Received in revised form
20 October 2014
Accepted 4 February 2015
Available online 11 February 2015

The aim of the study was to explore dissemination of the concept of eco-driving among Swedish car
drivers, with a special focus on the effects of the introduction of eco-driving into the driving school
curriculum in 2007. Nine new drivers educated according to this curriculum were compared with nine
experienced drivers with regards to their understanding and practise of eco-driving. The results show
that a majority of the drivers had heard about eco-driving but that their understanding of the concept
differed considerably. Their interpretation can be categorised into three levels: operational, tactical, and
strategic eco-driving. Differences were found between experienced and new drivers: new drivers understanding concerned the operational level, eco-driving as a technique, and had clearly been shaped by
the driving education. Experienced drivers interpretation of eco-driving was broader and included
strategic and tactical decisions, such as choice of car, route choice and maintenance. Their understanding
was shaped by various sources including experience and media coverage. Each individual driver's interpretation of eco-driving mostly comprised one level in the hierarchy, resulting in lock-in effects reducing their perceived action space. This perceived limited action space clashed with the motivation they
felt to act, creating problems. Hence, efforts should be made to enhance the perceived action space.
& 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
Eco-driving
Driving education
Car drivers
Action space

1. Introduction
Eco-driving comprises a set of techniques for a fuel-efcient
driving style, where the core is anticipatory, calm driving with the
intent of utilising the power of the engine in the most efcient
way. It has been suggested that if eco-driving became the dominant style of driving average fuel consumption may be reduced by
10% (Barkenbus, 2010). Many simulations and estimates show
even bigger fuel savings (up to 34% according to Mensing et al.,
2013) depending on conditions. A change in driver behaviour can
thus signicantly reduce the environmental impact of the transportation of people, and consequently the environmental impact
of transportation as a whole.
Eco-driving has long been promoted in Sweden. Efforts have
been made to educate both private and professional drivers since
the late 1990s (Vgverket, 2009) and as of December 2007 both
theoretical knowledge and practical skills in eco-driving are requirements for gaining a driving licence for a car. The questions
are how successful these efforts have been and what effects the
recent inclusion in the driving licence training has had?
n

Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: helena.stromberg@chalmers.se (H. Strmberg),
mak@chalmers.se (I.C.M. Karlsson), rex@chalmers.se (O. Rexfelt).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2015.02.001
0967-070X/& 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The aim of the study described in this paper was to explore

dissemination of the concept of eco-driving among Swedish car
drivers. More specically, the goal was to answer the following
questions:

 Do drivers actively think about eco-driving? Is it important?

 How is the concept of eco-driving understood? What do drivers


include in the concept? Do drivers make a connection between

eco-driving and the environment?
What effect (if any) has the inclusion of eco-driving in the
driving licence requirements had on drivers' understanding
and practice of eco-driving?

2. Methodology
The study included 18 participants, 7 men and 11 women, their
ages ranging from 19 to 71, see Table 1 for details about the participants. The participants were chosen to represent two groups of
drivers: experienced drivers who have had had a driver's licence
for more than 30 years, and less experienced drivers who received
their licences after December 2007 when eco-driving became part
of the requirements for a driving licence. The assumption was that
experienced drivers have, over time, developed a way of driving

H. Strmberg et al. / Transport Policy 39 (2015) 4854

reread to see if the determined themes were supported in the

larger context.

Table 1
Detailed information about the participants of the two groups.
No

Age Sex Licence

year

Licence
class

Occupation

49

Access to car

3. Results
Experienced drivers
P1 68
m
1962
P2
70
m
1961
P3
71
m
1959
P5
65
f
1969
P6
67
f
1963
P8
61
f
1970
P9
62
f
1968
P10 62
f
1969
P12 68
m
1963

AB
ABECE
ABECE
AB
AB
AB
AB
AB
AB

Pensioner
Pensioner
Pensioner
Nurse
Sociologist
Process manager
Researcher
Midwife
Pensioner

New drivers
P4
25
f

2007

P7

19

2011

P11

19

2011

f
f
m
m
m
f

2010
2009
2012
2011
2011
2011

B
B
B
B
B
B

Primary school
Owner
teacher
Trainee (construction) Continuous
access
Shop assistant
Continuous
access
Student
Occasional access
Student
Occasional access
Warehouse worker
Owner
Student
Occasional access
Student
Regular access
Student
Occasional access

P13 20
P14 22
P15 19
P16 19
P17 19
P18 20

Owner
Owner
Owner
Owner
Owner
Owner
Owner
Owner
Owner

that they may nd difcult to change. Furthermore, they have had

to learn about eco-driving from their own experience of driving or
from information campaigns and other sources. The less experienced drivers, on the other hand, have learnt to eco-drive from the
beginning and should have developed a practice based on this
knowledge. It is suggested that this will have led to differences in
the understanding of eco-driving between new and experienced
drivers.
Data were collected in individual semi-structured interviews
lasting between one and 1 h. The choice of semi-structured interviews was motivated by the need to penetrate a predened set
of topics and at the same time allow an elaboration of additional
aspects mentioned by participants. Included in the interview was a
short test drive, about 10 min, which included a range of trafc
situations. The reason for the test drive was the assumed necessity
to encourage participants to reect on their behaviour behind the
wheel. As the actions that make up driving behaviour are often
automated it can otherwise be difcult to elicit this information.
The interviewees were not informed about the focus on environmental issues, but were instead invited to talk about driving
in a broader sense and to explain their views of and their thoughts
on how to drive. This choice was made in order to gauge the
participants' true feelings on the environmental responsibility of
car drivers, instead of making them feel obligated to express environmentally friendly views. If the participants did not bring up
the environmental issues of driving themselves, they were asked
about it quite late in the interview.
The interviews were recorded and the recordings transcribed in
full. For each interview a summary sheet was produced, summarising the major topics of interest (cf. Miles and Huberman,
1994). These topics included the major themes for each person, the
person's denition of eco-driving, other aspects of what they
considered driving with consideration for the environment, what
factors help or hinder them when they try to practise eco-driving,
and whether there were conicts between eco-driving and other
aspects of driving. Based on this reduced data set, an inductive
analysis was carried out to identify themes across the range of
participants, and to nd connections between participants. With
these new themes as a framework, the full interview material was

3.1. Eco-driving and the environment

There was a consensus among the participants that the current
situation regarding transportation is problematic from an environmental perspective. It was regarded as one of society's major
issues, in urgent need of solving:
Well, we have the environment, and we know what we are
doing to it with all the exhausts and all the car driving and so
on (p6, exp.).
Because of the environmental problems caused by driving, the
participants reported feeling a degree of pressure from society not
to drive, or at least to reect on their driving and its consequences:
To drive a car today and not be environmentally conscious,
that is pretty difcult (p2, exp.).
The interviews also revealed that the participants had in fact
reected on the connection between their own driving and the
environmental problems. Actually, almost all the participants
mentioned the environmental issues connected to driving before
being asked about it. All participants understood that the way they
drove, as well as how much they drove, had an impact on the fuel
they consumed and the emissions they generated. They also realised that they had an opportunity to change the way they used
their cars and their driving style in order to help solve the issue.
3.2. Eco-driving as a technique
3.2.1. Knowledge of eco-driving
Regarding the issue of knowledge it was necessary to separate
the participants' knowledge of the term eco-driving and their
knowledge of the actual concept of eco-driving. The term was
quite widespread among the participants with only two participants not having heard of it (both experienced). The actual
meaning, however, was less well known, especially among the
more experienced drivers:
I recognise that I have seen that term, but what does it really
mean? I have probably never looked into that (p5, exp.).
When comparing the two groups, the new drivers had in
general more knowledge about eco-driving than did the experienced drivers. In addition, the new drivers had a comparable
depth of knowledge, whereas the degree of knowledge varied
considerably among the experienced drivers, from some never
having heard of the concept to one driver who had attended
several courses in eco-driving. The most knowledgeable individuals were, in fact, found in the experienced group. Nevertheless, when asked about it, none of the participants neither in
the experienced group nor in the new educated group rated
their knowledge level as very high.
Most of the drivers in the experienced group had a vague idea
of what eco-driving means and knew one or two techniques. The
level of detail varied; with a few having knowledge of very specic
actions while others had lofty guidelines in mind when they
thought about eco-driving. To exemplify, one participant could
only think of two specic actions when asked what eco-driving
was: driving out, instead of reversing out, of parking lots and
driving at speeds lower than the speed limit on motorways (p10,
exp.). Another participant described eco-driving as This thing with

50

H. Strmberg et al. / Transport Policy 39 (2015) 4854

how you should shift gears, when you should brake (p6, exp.), but
could not specify any further what this meant in practice. The
experienced drivers' knowledge of eco-driving originated from
different sources such as hearing about it in the media (including
TV, newspapers, and motor magazines), talking about it with
friends and colleagues, and learning it through eco-driving courses
given at work. A few participants mentioned being told about it by
their children or other relatives who had recently attended driving
school, showing that driver training helps spread eco-driving
further than just to those undergoing the training.
The diversity in knowledge was also represented during the
test drives, where some participants demonstrated many of the
eco-driving techniques while others drove more aggressively or
carelessly. In general they were not aware of their actions whilst
driving and many found it very difcult to explain how they drove.
In comparison, the new drivers knew more eco-driving techniques. They explained the techniques on a similar level of detail,
and they were more consistent in their understanding of the
concept of eco-driving. They mentioned almost the same (few)
things, related to (i) anticipation (plan driving and avoid stopping),
(ii) gear shifting (use top/highest possible gear, and skip gears
when shifting), and (iii) braking (brake smoothly, use engine
braking whenever possible). These techniques correlate more or
less to those advertised by Trakverket, which sets the curriculum
for driving licence training,1 and the participants did indeed attribute knowing them to their driver's training. During the test
drives it was apparent that the participants in this group had incorporated the techniques into their driving. In addition, some
were observed to perform techniques that they did not mention
when asked about eco-driving, indicating that they had adopted
eco-driving as the normal way of driving.
An investigation into the character of the participants' knowledge shows that it predominantly took the form of a collection of
guidelines and tips of varying specicity. Taken together the participants had a fairly comprehensive understanding of (what is
usually considered as) eco-driving, but on an individual level they
only knew a few bits and pieces. Moreover, they were not certain
of why and/or how these techniques work and to what extent the
different techniques actually reduce fuel use. This vague appreciation of how much it can save was demonstrated by one of the
participants who said:
I heard once from somewhere that if all people in Sweden kept
to the speed limits, emissions would decrease by a large
amount. I don't know how true it is, but it sounds like it would
work (p18, new).
Even if most of the participants performed the techniques
without knowing why and to what extent they work, some of the
participants said that they were less motivated to perform some
fuel-saving techniques because they perceived them as contrived
or illogical. One of the participants wondered for instance why it
was said to be more environmentally friendly to skip gears as this
made his driving more strained, stating that
The other ones [eco-driving techniques] I can logically understand why, but this one No, the theory behind it is lacking (p15, new).
When asked if he would have liked more theoretical arguments, he answered that it would probably make him more motivated to drive in the recommended way. Another participant
remembered having rejected some techniques right off the bat at
1

A description of the curriculum can be found here: https://www.korkort

sportalen.se/upload/dokument/Ovriga_dokument_TS/B%20curriculum_detailed_de
scription.pdf.

driving school because they affected his driving too much:

I know there were some things that I kind of didn't completely
agree with (p16, new).
Additionally, the participants reported varying quality in their
driver training, and varying depth of the eco-driving section that
was included. For some of the participants eco-driving was taught
as a few extra tips that could occasionally be included, while for
others eco-driving technique was taught as the natural way of
driving. The latter group used eco-driving techniques during the
test drive, but did not reect upon which techniques involved ecodriving. In contrast, those new drivers whose training had not
integrated eco-driving into the normal way of driving, drove
according to eco-driving guidelines but were conscious of their
driving and commented on the instances when they applied a
certain technique.
3.2.2. Attitudes towards eco-driving
The understanding of eco-driving varied with the amount of
knowledge that the participants had, but the experienced group
and the new drivers could be divided not only in terms of
knowledge but also in terms of attitude.
Within the experienced group, and excluding those who had
never heard of eco-driving, the participants were entirely positive
towards eco-driving. The participants with a limited knowledge of
eco-driving saw it as a promising way of dealing with the consequences of driving and wanted to learn more about it. The more
knowledgeable participants had already incorporated it into the
way they drove and saw it as the natural way to drive.
Among the group of new drivers the attitude was more negative but so was also their attitude towards driving in general.
Therefore they were somewhat ambiguous about eco-driving, as
the effects of changing your driving style were regarded as insignicant in comparison to the environmental benets of not driving
at all. However, they agreed that if you have to drive, eco-driving is
the way to do it because it minimises the negative impact of
driving. As mentioned previously, the participants were uncertain
of the actual effects, something that added to their hesitancy. One
participant said about driving in a more environmentally friendly
way: but of course it is important, it is, although there is not a
whole lot you can do about it (p7, new) adding later but the
little might help if everyone does it. Other participants further
stressed the importance of everyone becoming involved:
If everyone can inuence a little then it will well it should be
noticeable if everyone does something to make it (p18,
new).
A small fraction of the group of new drivers regarded ecodriving as a form of greenwashing, i.e. an insincere practice to
present an environmentally responsible image of driving, and
therefore had a negative attitude. They saw it as a way for some
drivers to justify the laziness of driving, instead of making real
behavioural changes that can have a substantial impact on the
environment. It was even argued that this is typical of how Swedes
(the average Swede often referred to as Svensson, cf. the Smiths)
handle environmental issues:
It's the usual Svensson attitude to environmental thinking: it's
good if you do it, but it's only if you remember to', like that
instead of it reecting your whole behaviour when it comes to
driving (p14, new).
Despite these objections, the overall attitude towards ecodriving was positive and it was perceived as linked with other
benets such as increased comfort and safety. One participant
reasoned, for instance, about skipping gears

H. Strmberg et al. / Transport Policy 39 (2015) 4854

Well, you've learned that you're supposed to do it but if you

look carefully at what it actually does for the environment, the
difference is very minimal really, but it has come as a habit and
I think it is convenient (p16, new).
Nevertheless, even if most drivers thought that the emphasis
on planning one's driving improves trafc safety, some had concerns that there are potential conicts between eco-driving and
safety, for example if someone concentrated on keeping the car
rolling and not stopping when necessary. These were provided as
hypothetical examples, and all the participants stated that their
rst focus is safety. Having said that, they criticised the design of
some safety measures, such as the law that cars must stop for
pedestrians at unregulated crossings, as they felt that these rules
contradicted the emphasis on eco-driving.
3.2.3. Summary of eco-driving knowledge and attitude
The ndings are summarised in Table 2, which also highlights
the main differences between the two groups of drivers. Even if
most participants were familiar with the concept of eco-driving, it
is also clear that the participants only had limited understanding
of it, consisting of tips and tricks, without understanding the underlying reasons for why these particular behaviours should be
carried out and the magnitude of effect that they may have. The
attitude was cautiously positive with some reservations regarding
the effects. The reservations could be attributed to the knowledge
gap.
3.3. Expanding on the concept
The initial focus for the study was eco-driving as a technique
but during the interviews it became apparent that the participants
also considered other behaviours to be part of the concept. The
experienced drivers in particular put forward many additional
actions that they regarded as eco-driving'. Some expanded on the
driving technique by adding various measures related to maintenance. For instance, one participant explained eco-driving as
No fast acceleration, gentle braking, don't load the car in the
wrong way with roof racks and other strange things that cause
it to use more fuel. What more? I take care of my car, change
the spark plugs at the correct intervals because that saves on
consumption, on the whole that service is carried out like it
should to maintain engine performance (p1, exp.).
For others the actual choice of vehicle was an important part of
eco-driving
First you have a fuel-efcient car that is small and that does
use much petrol, and then you don't keep on shifting up and
down, instead drive pretty smoothly (p9, exp.).
Environmental impact was also cited as a consideration when
purchasing a new vehicle:
Table 2
Summary of the ndings with regards to knowledge and attitude.

Knowledge of term
Knowledge level variation within
group
Coherence of eco-driving understanding within group
Implementation of techniques in
practice
Attitude
Main source of knowledge

Experienced drivers

New drivers

All but 2
Large

All
Small

Low

High

Varied

All

Positive
Media/experience/
social

Mixed
Driving
school

51

It was our rst priority when we replaced our car, that it

should be a gas-powered car, for the sake of the environment
(p6, exp.).
Further behaviours included by the participants in eco-driving
involved considering in advance the way a car trip is made, for
instance: I try to plan ahead of the trip so we try to rideshare and so
on (p8, exp.). Ridesharing was often mentioned: If I am doing
things together with people and I sat alone in one car, and they rode
in another, that would feel completely unnecessary (p10, exp.).
Another aspect of planning the car trip in advance was trying to
avoid congestion:
Well, you know from experience when there is congestion, at
which times, then you choose an alterative route from experience, where there is no queue, because it uses so much fuel
when you are stuck in a queue (p12, exp.).
Among the new drivers the additions were fewer, and focused
almost exclusively on reducing driving as such. When asked how
to drive in an eco-friendly way, many answered along the same
lines: Well, we should not drive at all (p11, new). Some saw it as
more acceptable, however, if the driving was done with a green
car, saying for example that driving does not feel like it is a
good environmental alternative, unless it is [in] an electric vehicle
(p17, new).
Analysing the content of these other behaviours, three main
categories were found which form a hierarchy that illustrates
different time horizons. Firstly, there is eco-driving as a technique,
such as skipping gears or engine braking. These are categorized as
operational decisions or behaviours whilst driving. Secondly there
are tactical decisions made for each trip, such as choosing which
route to take to avoid congestion or rideshare, thereby reduce
emissions. Finally, there are strategic choices such as choosing to
drive as little as possible, maintaining the vehicle in top condition,
or buying a green car, which are decisions made with a longterm perspective. The categories are similar to the categories
proposed by Sivak and Schoettle (2012) when evaluating the impact of different eco-driving decisions on the on-road fuel economy of vehicles. Table 3 summarises the full range of behaviours
stated by the participants and organises them into the three categories of eco-driving.2
3.4. Understanding and action space
When comparing the answers from the individual participants
with the range of possible behaviours in the matrix, it became
evident that in most cases the individual's understanding or
awareness was limited to only a small fraction of the available
behaviours, often to one of the three levels, or even one aspect
within one level. Thus, only a restricted range of possible behavioural alternatives, a limited action space, was available to them
to perform. This was true for those who understood eco-driving as
a technique, as illustrated by the following statement The way I
understand it you engine brake a lot, as much as you can, and you
skip gears, and well it is mostly those two things (p11, new) as
well as for those who understood the concept on the strategic and
tactical levels as illustrated by the following: Well, it is an ecofriendly car, so you don't have to think about it yourself (p3, exp.).
In some cases, the participants were content with their limited
interpretation, but for most participants it appeared as though the
2
The use of the term eco-driving to denote the concept when including behaviours on the strategic and tactical levels that replace driving can be questioned.
Other related terms have been considered, but they were found to carry their own
problematic connotations. The choice was therefore made to retain eco-driving
when discussing the concept in a driving education related context.

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H. Strmberg et al. / Transport Policy 39 (2015) 4854

Table 3
Eco-driving behaviours organised into three levels of eco-driving: strategic, tactical and operational.
Strategic eco-driving
Description

Behaviours mentioned as eco-driving in the interviews (grouped

according to similarity)

Tactical eco-driving

Operational eco-driving

Implementation of eco-driving
Long-term decisions on how to transport oneself, choice Planning the trip and preparing the
of vehicle and maintain the vehicle in good condition
vehicle, given that car has been chosen techniques while driving
as the mode of transport
Curtail use and shift mode:
Use efcient gear shifting:
 Rideshare
 Do not drive
 Avoid driving at rush hour,
 Up-shift as soon as possible,
choose routes with less trafc
shift to and maintain top gear
 Drive less, use more public transport, walk and
bicycle more
 Do not start the car with a cold
 Use correct gear and maintain
engine, use engine heater, park in
low engine revolutions
 Use alternative transport for long distances
heated garage
(train), short distances (walk, bicycle), in the city
 Skip gears when possible
(walk, bicycle, public transport)
 Correctly load vehicle, remove
 Shift smoothly
roof racks
 Use multimodal transport (e.g. drive to train
 Only use rst gear to start, and
station)
put the car in gear before
 Park so you can drive out instead
starting
of backing out
Maintenance:

 Perform all scheduled servicing, service the car






often
Change lters, change oil, change spark plugs
Drive longer stretches once in a while to clear
system
Park in heated garage to prolong lifespan
Switch tyres seasonally, invest in good tyres, do
not use studded tyres, keep tyres in good
condition

Choice of vehicle:
 Do not own a car, join car-sharing service, only
own one car (per family)
 Buy/use an environmentally friendly car, running
on alternative fuel (electric vehicle, gas-powered
vehicle, hybrid vehicle, biofuel), i.e. more fuelefcient (smaller car, newer car, with automatic
transmission/manual transmission, with more
gears)

Keep speed down:

 Drive slowly, observe the
speed limit
 Drive slower than the limit on
the motorway
 Accelerate quickly to the correct speed
Anticipatory, calm and steady
driving:
 Plan driving and stay vigilant,
 Drive carefully, drive more
gently
 Maintain a steady speed, keep
car rolling
 Do not drive aggressively
 Do not accelerate forcefully
 Do not overtake unnecessarily
 Avoid braking/accelerating/
braking/accelerating
Brake efciently and use the momentum of the car:
 Engine brake, coast
 Slow down in time before red
lights
 Brake in time
 Brake gently, do not brake
harshly
Miscellaneous:
Avoid idling, do not start car
before ready to drive off
Use cruise control/do not use
cruise control
Shut off AC

limited knowledge caused issues. Especially for the participants

who could not follow the advice they recognised as eco-driving. As
they considered their own driving an environmental problem,
they felt guilt and frustration when this happened. This was particularly true for those participants who only identied less car
driving and drive an environmentally friendly car as the possible actions. One very new driver talked about the environmental
guilt she felt during driver training:
Well, then you drove just to drive, so then you felt a little
guilty every time you drove an extra trip (p18, new).
Another participant with physical disabilities and an adapted
car struggled with her environmental impact and limited choice of
vehicle:
I so wish I could drive a green car [] I'm aware of this environmental depletion and the fact that I drive so many short
trips in the city, which is polluting, but I guess it's ok for me
(p5, exp.).
Yet another felt ashamed of liking cars:

My car is like my hobby, which has always been a bit shameful, but yes, environmentally it is my bad conscience (p4,
new).
In addition to guilt and frustration, the participants reported on
conicts based on different views of what could be done to reduce
the environmental impact of transportation. Two participants
(from different families) spoke, for instance, about the conict
when one party sees avoiding driving as the only option, and the
other sees driving a well-maintained green car as the best option:
We use public transport a lot, trains, especially trains, a lot of
trains. We ride a tremendous number of trains, and we would
not do that if my husband could decide, but he can't (p9, exp.).
I do not, like my wife, think that you should avoid driving if
you can. She does, but I don't like public transport (p12, exp.).
Some participants reported having similar arguments with
friends, colleagues and people at large about how much they
drove and about the way they drove, because they felt that they
did not do what they could for the environment.

H. Strmberg et al. / Transport Policy 39 (2015) 4854

In brief, because of the participants' sense of responsibility for

the environmental consequences of their driving, they felt a strong
motivation to adopt eco-driving. The above-mentioned quotes are
examples of the issues that arose for participants when there was
a mismatch between their interpretation of actions that comprise
eco-driving and the action space that they recognised that they
had. This action space was not only a question of whether the
actions were objectively available to them, i.e. a part of the participants' actual action potential. Equally important was whether
the participants perceived the actions as available and relevant for
them to perform, i.e. if the action was part of their perceived action
space. A major limiting factor of the perceived action space was
their understanding of the concept of eco-driving whether shaped
by eco-driving as driving technique or including other aspects.

4. Discussion and implications

According to the interviews the drivers were concerned about,
and hence made a clear connection between, driving and the environment independent of their thinking about or their understanding of the concept of eco-driving per se. Even though a majority of the drivers had heard about eco-driving' their understanding of the concept differed considerably: between the experienced and the new drivers as well as among the experienced
drivers. To a large degree, the participants' interpretation of ecodriving was conned to one level in the proposed hierarchy of
strategic, tactical, and operational eco-driving.
4.1. Factors affecting current state of knowledge
The new drivers' focus on the operational level of eco-driving
can be attributed to the inclusion of eco-driving in the driving licence requirements. The knowledge they gained regarding this
level was expected, since the driver's training curriculum puts
emphasis on eco-driving as a technique. Rather unexpectedly,
however, the selected focus on the operational level of eco-driving
had led to a negative attitude for some of the new drivers as the
operational level of eco-driving was not perceived as having the
large emission-reducing effects that they sought. A further aspect
that inuenced their knowledge and attitude were the reported
differences in the extent that eco-driving techniques were included
as a natural part of driving, or just as additional tips. This can
be traced to that the curriculum only offers direction to include
environmentally conscious driving in the training, but the exact
design of the education is up to the individual driving instructor.
Hence, such differences will persist if concrete advice on how to
perform eco-driving training is not created.
Whereas the new drivers' interpretation of eco-driving seems
to have been set by their training, the origins of the experienced
drivers' understanding of the concept on the tactical and strategic
levels are more obscure. The interview material does include some
indications of from where their understanding originates. For example, awareness of the environmental importance of tactical
decisions such as when and where to drive was cited as a result of
driving experience, awareness of strategic maintenance stemmed
often from an interest in cars, and learning fuel-efcient driving
techniques was put down to nancial motives. Thus, their interpretation of eco-driving was steered by other interests.
Nevertheless, there may be other possible inuences on which
behaviour is included in eco-driving by the participants. Applicability of the advice for the individual participant's lifestyle or life
situation could be one such inuence. One aspect to consider in
interpreting the data is that the new drivers were either students
living in urban student housing (with little or no need of a car), or
worked and lived at home with the option of using their parents'

53

car. Therefore, they had not encountered the need to perform

maintenance or faced the choice of type of vehicle. This may cause
those actions to fall outside their perceived action space. Another
example can be found among the married participants, where the
husband mentioned carrying out maintenance and the wife
mentioned that it was her husband's chore. Hence, the married
female participants did not include maintenance as being within
their action space. There may be more such inuences that were
not mentioned during the interviews.
4.2. Harnessing the motivation to act
Both groups of drivers appear to be affected by the negative
opinions about driving expressed in the public debate in Sweden.
Their perception of the main message in the debate is that car
driving is unsustainable and should stop. Due to a generally high
interest in preserving the environment they agree with the essence of this message, and it creates in them concern and a feeling
of responsibility for tackling the environmental problems caused
by driving. As a result, for a majority of the drivers, driving a car
carries with it an inherent conict. When they were unable to act
on their sense of responsibility, frustration and conict ensued. As
the full spectrum of actions that the three levels of eco-driving
represent has become lost in the debate, the drivers were in a
sense locked in by their limited understanding of actions that did
not suit their needs and circumstances. Their motivation was
higher than the range of actions available to them. Therefore, increasing the drivers' knowledge and awareness of the full range of
actions possible could mitigate some of the observed conicts.
One important implication of the ndings is therefore to try to
capture these interested and motivated drivers and enable them to
act. The question is how? A key to increasing the spread of all
levels of eco-driving seems to be to work towards increasing drivers' perceived action space. The range of promotional efforts
should be broadened to incorporate the operational, the tactical,
and the strategic levels of eco-driving. This categorisation could be
useful as a tool when discussing how to proceed with promoting a
broader concept of eco-driving. The categorisation can also be
used as a basis for discussion when communicating with drivers.
By broadening the scope of eco-driving it is possible to create
greater understanding that you can always do something, if not
everything. As mentioned, the drivers in the study appeared to
perceive a very strict norm in society that driving is bad. For those
who in some cases had no other choice than to drive, this became
a thorn in their side. Continuing along that line may lead to the
rejection of environmental efforts as a whole, because it is perceived as absolutist, and not adaptable to your individual circumstances. Therefore, the continued promotion of eco-driving
needs to be carried out in an inclusive manner. The intent should
not be to impose guilt on people, or punish them for not behaving
in an environmentally friendly way, but instead to focus on enlightening drivers and enabling them to act on the motivation they
already feel.
4.3. Specic implications for communication and driver training
The interviews reveal a need to further spread information
about what can be done to reduce environmental impact of driving, especially for the experienced drivers. At the same time, the
interviews indicate that the threshold to search for information
unaided is high, despite the high level of motivation. This creates
demands on the way that information is distributed; it needs to be
easily accessible, easy to understand, and easy to relate to your
own behaviour and circumstances. In addition to other efforts, one
example to increase the knowledge on operational eco-driving
could be to include more advanced in-vehicle feedback in more

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H. Strmberg et al. / Transport Policy 39 (2015) 4854

cars. These solutions would provide the information of available

actions at the moment when the behaviour is performed, as well
as give the opportunity to reect on the outcome of the actions.
However, such systems must be carefully designed (regarding
content as well as user interface) in order to have the intended
effect and be enjoyable and relevant to the driver for extended
periods of time.
Another dimension to the distribution effort among the experienced drivers is clearly communicating the relationships between the three levels, so as to clarify that the choices made on
one level of the hierarchy set the constraints for executing actions
on the next level. For example, choosing not to drive during rush
hour (tactical level) makes it easier to keep the vehicle rolling
(operative level), and if the roof box is not removed after use
(tactical level), the vehicle will consume more fuel when driven on
the motorway despite driving 10 km slower than the speed limit
(operational level). It should also be of interest to communicate
the relative effects of performing the actions on the three levels, as
it demonstrates the hierarchy and can help drivers prioritise which
actions to undertake.
Driver training plays an important role in the spread of operational eco-driving, as it spreads knowledge both to the driving
students and the experienced drivers that help them learn how to
drive. Nevertheless, for those drivers in training that are critical
towards driving it could more clearly demonstrate the effects of
undertaking operational eco-driving actions, and in addition explain why they have an effect. The interviews indicate that this
could motivate drivers to actually undertake eco-driving to a
higher degree. In addition, driver training could be expanded to
include information about tactical aspects such as the impact of
choosing routes or consolidating trips. Part of the strategic ecodriving level, specically the maintenance related behaviours, is
already incorporated to a certain degree in driver training, albeit
without the connection to the environment. However, it is questionable whether this should be expanded to also include training
related to other actions on the strategic level. One obvious reason
is that learning how to drive is challenging enough for driving
school students, but it is also important to bear in mind that further emphasising the fact that driving (at all) has a negative impact on the environment could result in disbelief in what can be
achieved by engine braking, for instance. In addition, strategic
decisions regarding whether to buy a car and if so, what type of
car, are most often decisions that the driving student will make
later in life and therefore the motivation to reect on these matters may be low. The strategic level must therefore be the responsibility of other actors in society including public authorities
and policymakers. In contrast to the recommendation by Sivak and
Schoettle (2012), however, that policy decisions should focus on
vehicle selection as this has the largest (single) effect on vehicle

fuel economy, it is here proposed that future policies and strategies should consider all three levels proposed. The consequences
could otherwise be further lock-in effects and an amplication of
drivers' lack of faith that other behaviours than those related to
the strategic level may also have a positive effect on the
environment.

5. Summary and conclusions

The aim of the study was to explore the spread of the concept
of eco-driving among Swedish car drivers. The results show that a
majority of the drivers had heard about eco-driving' but their
understanding of the concept differed considerably. Independent
of their understanding, the drivers were concerned about and
made a clear connection between driving and the environment
and felt responsibility for doing something about this connection.
The drivers' understanding of eco-driving can be categorised
into three levels: operational, tactical, and strategic. There were
differences between the experienced and the new drivers. New
drivers' understanding of eco-driving concerned the operational
level, eco-driving as a technique, and was shaped by their driver
training. Experienced drivers' understanding of eco-driving was
broader and included strategic and tactical decisions such as
choice of car, route choice and maintenance. Their understanding
was shaped by various sources including experience and media
coverage.
The individual drivers' interpretation of eco-driving mostly
comprised one level in this hierarchy. The limits in the drivers'
understanding of the concept had lock-in effects that reduced their
perceived scope for action. The clash between the motivation they
felt to act and the actions available to them created problems.
Hence, efforts should be made to enhance the perceived scope for
action.

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