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The proportion of private car use was high among participants living with 5 kilometres of their workplace in KirchbergPhoto: Samuel Foster/ Unsplash 

A total 725 people from eight companies downloaded and activated the IMS Luxembourg Positive Drive application, tracking their commuter behaviour from 28 May to 6 July.

Publishing the results on Thursday, the corporate social responsibility group reported that the proportion of private car use was high among respondents living with 5 kilometres of their workplace. Indeed, two-thirds of the people living within this radius used private car. IMS Luxembourg pointed out that using several different kinds of transport, known as multimodal travel, was also common by the 5-kilometre radius group.

Reflecting on the findings, IMS Luxembourg concluded that companies which offer a parking space and company cars were “not inciting their staff to change behaviour and test the alternatives.” It said it was primordial to continue promoting multimodal travel, which it said could be a key to solving the country’s mobility problems.

Luxembourg’s sustainable development ministry has in recent years improved public transport and promoted low-cost alternative transport methods in a bid to reduce congestion and pollution in the capital.

Among the key changes it has made are the introduction of the tram in Kirchberg, the opening of the Pfaffenthal-Kirchberg train station and funicular, the improvement of cycle paths and infrastructure such as the Pont Adolphe suspended cycle path and the planned roll out of electric bikes for public rental.

A follow-up survey conducted by IMS Luxembourg with 325 people working in Kirchberg, found that over half the respondents considered cycling in the Kirchberg relatively safe (rating it 5-10 out of a scale of 1-10). They cited avenue J. F. Kennedy as the safest place to cycle while the worst places included Pfaffenthal station and boulevard Konrad Adenauer.

A recent survey, conducted by TNS Ilres, meanwhile, found that eight out of ten respondents would recommend the tram but more than half had not used it since it opened in December 2017.