There are things that still do not advance. Men drive more than women, and those who have university studies take more vacations than those who did not finish high school. These data and many more are exposed in the “Study on mobility and transport in Argentina”, of the Colsecor Foundation, directed by the researcher Mario Riorda, among others. The report reveals the customs of Argentines when moving around the country.
First the basic question: what is the most used means of transport in Argentina? The answer is the private car, chosen by 47% of residents. In second place is the walk, chosen by 3 out of 10, and then the bus, with a similar percentage. Slightly behind in percentage terms on the list of the most frequently used forms of transport are the bicycle, the remis, the motorcycle, the subways, trams and urban trains, and the taxi in last place, with 11% of choice.
Those who choose the private car do so in 37% because they find it practical and comfortable; 18% choose it because they have no other option; and 5% because it has a low cost. Among those who indicate that the main reason for using the car is that they have no other option, people aged 60 or over stand out (25%).
“Private car: more used in small towns, by men, adults and with studies”, reads the report. Men use the car much more than women: while 61% of them choose it as their preferred form of mobility, women do so by 40%. Men prefer the car to go to work by 35%, compared to only 18% of women who use it for this purpose. “A wake-up call: there is sexism. If you are a woman, you have less chance of having a car. And if you have less education or if you are young, too”, concludes the study.
Although 41% of Argentines do not have a car, women declare that they do not have a vehicle in 48% of the cases: a significant gap with men, who say they do not have one in 29% of the cases.
“64% of people between the ages of 15 and 24 declare that they do not have their own car compared to 34% of people aged 60 or over (who do not have one either)”, they say about possession according to age. There is also a notable difference according to the level of study: while 58% of those who have not finished high school do not have a car, 26% do not among those who have university degrees.
In smaller cities, with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants, car use is more widespread: 50% choose it as their first option. On the other hand, in cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants, the car continues to be the most chosen, although with a lower percentage: 42%.
There are also age differences: while the youngest, between 15 and 24 years old, use it the least (28%), 57% of the population aged 60 or over use it as their first option.
The educational factor also seems to be key. Among those who have completed university studies, 64% choose the car as the most frequent form of mobility, and for those who have not completed secondary school, the choice of car is 27%.
“A high percentage of their own car is also used to go shopping: 29% of the people surveyed choose it as their first (mobility) option,” they indicate. In smaller towns, this transport is used to go to the supermarket in a greater proportion than in the most populous cities.
Men (36%) use the car to make purchases in a higher percentage than women (25%). The people surveyed in the age range of 60 years and over are the ones who use their private car the most to make purchases: 38% choose it for this purpose.
There is a significant distance between those who have completed university studies and those who did not finish high school regarding the choice of the car to go to cultural recreational activities, be it movies, theater, recitals, or dances. While 25% of those with more studies use the car for outings, only 2% of those who did not complete their studies do so.
Walking. In large cities, with more than 100,000 inhabitants, only 28% choose walking as the most frequent form of mobility. Whether due to lack of money or by choice, young people walk more: 44% of people surveyed between the ages of 15 and 24 say they choose walking as their first option.
Those who choose to walk report that 22% do so because it is convenient; 16% indicate that they have no other option; 14% choose it because it is low cost; 12% because it is easily accessible; and another 12% because it is friendly to the environment.
12% of Argentines choose to walk to work. And only 4% of people aged 60 or over choose this option, compared to 20% of the youngest. “Although only 7% of those surveyed say they walk to go to places of study, it should be noted that 26% of those between the ages of 15 and 24 walk for this activity,” they write. The same age range chooses the walk to attend cultural events in a higher percentage than the average (26%). “Young people between the ages of 15 and 24 are the ones who use this system (buses) to a greater extent to go to study (36%),” they add.
Bondis. If we talk about the public transport system, the inhabitants of massive cities use the buses as their first option (49%). “Women report being more frequent users of the mass public transport system than men”, they affirm. 33% of those surveyed say they use it as the most frequent form of mobility, compared to 24% of men.
Young people (49% of them) are the ones who use mass transport the most. Between
those between 25 and 39 years old, 36% use it as a preferred option. In contrast, only 23% of people aged 60 and over use the bus as the most frequent form of mobility. Those who have completed university studies choose this form of mobility to a lesser extent, with 24%.
Those who opt for the mass public transport system do so mainly because they have no other option, the second reason is the low cost, then because it is easily accessible, and only 6% because it is practical and comfortable.
“Among people who use the mass public transport system (…), in general, the rating is more positive than negative. The aspect that seems to require more attention is the frequency, since it receives the least amount of positive responses”, indicates the research.
Regarding the state of the public transport units, 66% said that the state of the buses is good, while 26% affirm that it is bad or very bad. “Trains and subways approved, but with a lot of recommendations for improvements,” they point out.
The mass public transport system is the second most chosen form of mobility to go to work (first is the car). People between 25 and 39 years old (20%) are the ones who use this alternative the most to go to work.
Other options to get to work are the bicycle (9% as the preferred option) and the motorcycle (7%). “Women use the bicycle more than men to go to work: 13% compared to 10%. On the other hand, the reverse situation occurs with the motorcycle: 9% of men declare that they use it as a form of mobility to go to work, while 6% of women use it for that purpose”, they say. Both vehicles are selected in greater proportion for people between 25 and 39 years.
Remises and taxis are in the middle in terms of their use, between bicycles and motorcycles, with 8% going to work. “The percentage of women surveyed who use remises for this activity doubles that of men: 10% compared to 5%,” according to the survey.
Changes. “One in four people changed the form of mobility due to costs,” they indicate. The question in question to reach that conclusion was: “Thinking about the last year, and because of the cost or inflation, did you switch to some form of mobility that you use frequently now and you didn’t use before?” 25% of the people surveyed changed to walking as the most frequent form of mobility; 12% by bicycle, 5% by motorcycle and 4% by private car.
42% of the cars are gasoline, 8% diesel, 7% gas and only 1% have hybrid cars. Respondents were asked if they thought they would have a car with less environmental impact in the near future and 24.2% did not consider changing their car. “The most relevant value among those who are evaluating this possibility corresponds to the 39% who think it is expensive. 19% evaluate it, but not for now, 12% evaluate it, but believe that the existing infrastructure is not adequate and 3% evaluate it, but cannot find cars they like”, they point out.
Vacation. Although a few days ago the presidential spokesperson, Gabriela Cerruti, stated that two thirds of the population went on vacation, the study yields somewhat different results. “More than 40% did not travel for tourism in the last year in Argentina,” indicates the investigation. According to these data, almost half of Argentines did not go on vacation.
“When people were asked what was the means used to travel for tourism within Argentina in the last 12 months, 40.7% of the respondents stated that they had not made this type of trip. 43.5% of women indicate that they have not traveled, while 35.9% of men say that they have not done so,” says the Colsecor study. Therefore, more men than women went on vacation.
The difference is not only noticeable by gender, but also 56.6% of the people surveyed with incomplete secondary education declare that they have not traveled for vacations, in contrast to 31.3% among those who have completed university studies.
Of the Argentines who traveled for tourism within the country in the last 12 months, 31% indicated that they had done so in their private car; 13% in groups; and 5% by plane.
The study
Those responsible for the “Study on mobility and transport in Argentina”, of the Colsecor Foundation, are Mario Riorda, director of the Master’s Degree in Political Communication at the Austral University; Griselda Ibaña, director of the Federal Institute of Government, of the Catholic University of Córdoba; and Mónica Cingolani, dean of the Faculty of Political Science and International Relations, also of the Catholic University of Córdoba.
To arrive at the published results, surveys were conducted between November 11 and 27, 2022. Data collection was carried out online through CAWI (Computer Assisted Web Interview) technology. The sample of localities was designed in four non-proportional strata, according to the size of the city: approximately 350 cases per stratum, and a total of 1480 cases. The estimated margin of error does not exceed +/- 2.55% in any case. The implementation was carried out by Dicen Consulting and Projection Consultants.
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