Active/Passive Mobility

Active mobility has been described as a healthy action and it is the third most frequently used mode of transport for everyday trips, after individual cars and public transportation. It includes all ways of getting around under your own steam (cycling, walking, roller-skating, etc.), also called ‘soft mobility’. Active mobility is on the rise, especially in downtown areas, and presents multiple advantages: it saves time, money, and reduces the overall environmental impact. On the other hand, passive mobility is mainly associated with motorised mobility.

In the publicity world, from company campaigns to institutional advertising, the bicycle appears very often as an added element and not as means of transport per se.

The example of the SEAT advertisement in Figure below conveys the message that bicycles are for kids, cars for adults. Interestingly, the role of the bicycle presented in publicity, even in campaigns not related to mobility, seems to be a synonym of better communication between people, fun and good health (Pedrós-Pérez et al., 2020). A planned approach in these campaigns could contribute to inform, create and reinforce a new culture of active and sustainable mobility and to promote one of the measures that would have a bigger impact climate change mitigation: ‘living car-free’ (Wynes and Nicholas, 2017).