Restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic I Sweden created a major increase in outdoor activities in nature areas. Non-local travel to these areas were almost exclusively made by car, exposing problems for public transport to provide a viable and sustainable alternative. This paper reports on a current research project on the potential for public transport to support regional sustainable accessibility to outdoor recreation sites. It draws on a combination of visitor’s surveys to popular outdoor recreation sites and calculations of potential accessibility to these areas. The aim is to compare actual travel behaviour in terms of mode selection with the potential opportunities based on accessibility calculations in order to better understand the opportunities and limitations facing public transport as a sustainable travel alternative to activities that are not performed on an every-day basis. The result of this work is important for policy since public transport (at least in a Swedish context) is expected to become the key sustainable alternative to the car for regional travel to outdoor recreation activities. This has implications both for environmental and social sustainability. Especially for groups in society with less or no access to car that might find themselves having significantly less access to outdoor recreation opportunities if public transport fail to provide a realistic alternative.

Anders Larsson
University of Gothenburg

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ID Abstract: 353