Car enthusiasm during the second and fourth waves of COVID-19 pandemic

The study examines how the COVID-19 pandemic, associated restrictions, and changes in access to services affected mobility preferences and car enthusiasm in Poland. The aims were twofold: (1) to verify whether car enthusiasm differed between the second (October 2020) and fourth (October 2021) waves of the pandemic, and (2) to identify determinants of car enthusiasm and whether these determinants differed between 2020 and 2021. Motivated by debates on car culture, multimodality, and sustainable mobility, and considering Poland’s strong public transport tradition, the authors sought to fill a regional research gap using randomized samples. Four research questions were posed: RQ1: Was car enthusiasm correlated with age/generation? RQ2: Was car enthusiasm correlated with ecological and active transport orientation? RQ3: Did self-assessed quality of life influence car enthusiasm? RQ4: Did car enthusiasm rise between October 2020 and October 2021?

The literature positions mobility as a complex socio-cultural construct involving preferences, habits, and identities. Car culture persists due to convenience, symbolism, and identity, yet shifts toward multimodality and sustainability are noted. Car enthusiasm is framed within emotional geography as a human–car relationship, but measurement approaches vary. Generational differences are highlighted: Generation Y (born 1981–1999) is often less car-oriented, more ecology-focused, and more open to sharing solutions than Generation X and Baby Boomers, informing RQ1 and RQ2. COVID-19-related restrictions globally and in Europe led to major mobility changes, reduced travel, and reliance on social distancing, often analyzed via secondary (e.g., Google) data. Mobility changes affected quality of life (Germany, USA, Israel), motivating RQ3. In Poland, early strict measures (March–April 2020) evolved into the second wave (Sep–Dec 2020) and fourth wave (Sep–Dec 2021), with similar dynamics in public transport demand and restrictions, motivating RQ4. The review underscores the need for primary, randomized data to understand social and attitudinal determinants of mobility choices during sustained disruption.

Design: Two-wave cross-sectional CAWI survey among Polish residents with stratified random sampling by gender, age, and place of residence. Pilot: 437 respondents (non-random, May 2020) informed questionnaire refinement. Main data: 1700 respondents in Oct 2020 and 2000 in Oct 2021 (total N=3700). Stratification approximated ~60% urban, ~40% rural (incl. ~20% suburban up to 20 km). Age cohorts: Baby Boomers (1945–62), Gen X (1963–80), Gen Y (1981–99), Gen Z (2000+; respondents ≥16 years). Sampling error ~3% at ≥95% CI. Instrument: 23 closed questions, including five Likert-scale blocks on transport preferences and choices, plus sections on opinions/beliefs/attitudes, mobility choices, and anonymized life characteristics. A millennial values/beliefs composite was formed by summing positive responses to items 1.1–1.35 (StatMil), with reliability Cronbach’s alpha=0.71. Psychological distress: Kessler’s 6-item NSPD (KES1–KES6), five-point Likert; reliability alpha=0.90. Treated as indicators of a latent NSPD construct. Observed covariates: QoL (self-rated 1–10), DOM_Car (dominant mode: 1=car, 2=else), Generation (1=Z, 2=Y, 3=X, 4=Baby Boomers), Gender (1=female, 2=male, 3=other), Urban_01 (1=urban, 2=suburban, 3=rural), Year (0=2020, 1=2021). Latent mobility constructs: From responses to mobility statements (Q14.01–14.23), exploratory factor analysis (PCA, Varimax) conducted after verifying KMO and Bartlett assumptions. Items with low/non-significant loadings were removed (14.04, 14.14, 14.16, 14.19; then 14.05, 14.23, 14.18, 14.21). Final EFA extracted three latent factors: (1) Car enthusiasm (e.g., 14.07, 14.08, 14.09, 14.10, 14.11, 14.12, 14.13), (2) Attitude toward shared mobility (e.g., 14.15, 14.17, 14.23), and (3) Sustainable/green beliefs (e.g., 14.01, 14.02, 14.22). Example loadings: 14.09=0.76; 14.11=0.73; 14.15=0.72; 14.17=0.80; 14.01=0.83; 14.02=0.67; 14.22=0.74. Explained variance: Factor1=3.53 (24%), Factor2=2.36 (16%), Factor3=1.94 (13%). Modeling: Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) in SmartPLS 3. Latent constructs: Car Enthusiasm, Shared Mobility, Ecology, NSPD; StatMil included with partial mediation by Generation. Bootstrapping: 500 subsamples, BCa confidence intervals.

• Car enthusiasm increased from 2020 to 2021: Year → Car Enthusiasm = 0.271, p<0.001.
• Ecological orientation positively associated with car enthusiasm: Ecology → Car Enthusiasm = 0.139, p<0.001.
• Generation Y less car-enthusiastic: Generation → Stat_Mil = -0.201, p<0.001; Stat_Mil → Car Enthusiasm = -0.117, p<0.001, indicating millennial traits reduce car enthusiasm.
• Psychological distress relates to higher car enthusiasm and lower quality of life: NSPD → Car Enthusiasm = 0.080, p=0.004; NSPD → Quality of Life = -0.413, p<0.001.
• Higher self-assessed quality of life is associated with higher car enthusiasm: Quality of Life → Car Enthusiasm = 0.088, p=0.001.
• Positive attitude to shared mobility associates with higher car enthusiasm: Shared Mobility → Car Enthusiasm = 0.161, p<0.001.
• Year effects on other constructs: Year → Ecology = -0.120, p<0.001 (decline in sustainable/green attitudes in 2021); Year → Quality of Life = 0.122, p<0.001 (increase in QoL in 2021).
• Gender effect: Gender → Car Enthusiasm = -0.067, p=0.004 (direction per coding indicates differences by gender).
• Model fit (goodness of fit): SRMR=0.073 (estimated model), NFI=0.794; Chi-square=2608.26; supports acceptable overall fit for PLS-SEM with bootstrapping. Overall, compared to 2020, 2021 respondents showed higher car enthusiasm, concurrent with shifts in ecological attitudes and perceived quality of life.

Findings suggest the pandemic increased car enthusiasm in Poland, likely due to perceived safety of private cars under social distancing, limits on public transport occupancy, and seasonal constraints on micro-mobility. Distress was linked to greater car use propensity, consistent with risk aversion and commuting comfort during health crises. Despite an overall decline in sustainability orientation from 2020 to 2021, the positive correlation between ecological orientation and car enthusiasm points to potential environmental hypocrisy or a preference for eco-friendly cars (e.g., low/zero-emission vehicles) rather than modal shift. Policy implications include improving public transport comfort and reliability to reduce distress, and demand management (parking policies, traffic buffering, congestion charges) to rebalance private car convenience versus sustainable modes.

The study provides evidence that car enthusiasm in Poland increased between the second and fourth waves of COVID-19 and identifies key determinants: generational traits (lower enthusiasm among Generation Y), psychological distress (increasing enthusiasm), ecological orientation (positively associated), shared mobility attitudes (positively associated), and higher quality of life (positively associated). The research fills a regional gap with randomized, stratified samples and SEM of latent constructs, offering insights for transport policy during prolonged disruptions. Future research should use panel designs to track individual-level changes over time, explore causal mechanisms behind the ecology–car enthusiasm link, and assess policy interventions that reduce public transport distress while managing private car attractiveness.

• Cross-sectional design with two independent randomized samples rather than a panel; cannot infer within-person changes in car enthusiasm or behavior over time.
• Self-reported measures (e.g., QoL, attitudes) may be subject to bias.
• The study focuses on Poland; generalizability to other contexts may be limited despite methodological rigor.
• Some model fit indices (e.g., NFI) are modest, and certain constructs may reflect complex, evolving attitudes during the pandemic.