Exploring immigrants travel behaviour: empirical findings from Offenbach am Main, Germany

This paper focuses on the everyday travel behaviour of immigrants in Germany. We use data from an empirical study conducted in Offenbach am Main, a city with one of the highest immigrant populations in Germany. We compared the travel behaviour of immigrants and their direct offspring to that of Germans without an immigration background. Compared to non-immigrants, immigrants own fewer cars or bicycles per household, and they were also less likely to be able to ride a bicycle or to drive a car and to have access to these modes of transport. For both groups, the most important transport mode is the private car. Immigrants, especially women, use public transport and ride in a car as a passenger on a regular basis more frequently than non-immigrants. Riding a bicycle tends to be a typical transport mode for non-immigrants, especially for men. We used logistic regression models to identify, in addition to gender and immigration status, factors that influenced the regular use of car (as driver), public transport, and bicycle. These factors include, for example, income, car ownership, household composition, education and socialisation. Our results shed some light on the travel behaviour of immigrants in Germany, but we also emphasize the need for further research to deepen our understanding of the travel behaviour of immigrants in Germany.