Transport behaviour of Russian residents: is it possible to overcome the “cult of the automobile"

The article examines the question of what functional and symbolic components are embedded in the attitude towards owning a personal vehicle and what the factors are of Russians' commitment to owning a car. The key question of the study: is it currently possible to transition from the "cult of the automobile" in Russia to other forms of transport behaviour of Russian residents? The author's study is based on the foundations of actor-network theory and the theory of structural functionalism. The author assumes that the attitude towards owning a car remains strong and believes that it consists of certain functional and semantic parameters. The author tries to determine the reasons for the rootedness of this attitude and discusses possible ways of its transformation. The results of several waves of the all-Russian omnibus telephone survey "SPUTNIK" VTsIOM (2018-2024) are used as an empirical basis for the study. The survey method is a telephone interview with a stratified random sample extracted from the full list of mobile phone numbers used in the territory of the Russian Federation. The study involved 1,600 Russians aged 18 years and older. The results obtained are based on the analysis of one-dimensional and two-dimensional distributions of features, as well as the calculation and interpretation of the correlation coefficients. The author comes to the conclusion about the high level of motorisation in the Russian Federation, where the majority of the population has experience of driving and purchasing a personal car, and the number of households without a car is decreasing annually. The use of cars is becoming more intensive, and therefore it is becoming impossible for the majority of Russians to imagine their life without one. Socio-demographic characteristics of individuals only slightly affect their commitment to a car, and the true reasons for the impossibility of giving it up are hidden in the attitude towards car ownership, that consists of the functionality of the car and its semantic images. A car is an integral attribute of life for most citizens, giving them the opportunity to experience a variety of emotions and sensations, as well as maintain the desired level of well-being. The author comes to the conclusion that it is impossible to overcome the “cult of the automobile” in Russia at the current moment.