Does public transport have legs?
Personalised transport like cars and motorcycles answer that basic need, getting from point A to point B. Yet, public transport can often take care of that as well, albeit with a little less style. It's greener and cheaper, both important considerations, so are more people joining the queue for the bus?

Overall, 14% of respondents across the 18 markets say they will use public transport more often in the coming year. The highest level of agreement was China at 39%.

Kelvin Gin says Chinese people are definitely curtailing spending but we also need to remember that not that many people own cars yet in China.

"Even though this is an urban sample (so potentially more car owners) and China is arguably the world's top car market, you still have well over a billion people here who do not own a vehicle. They have to get to places somehow so public transport is always in demand in Chinese cities. The Government is improving public infrastructure all the time too."

There was also a high response in Korea where a third of respondents said they will use more public transport and ByeongHwan Je puts this down to simple economics.

"Korea imports 100% of its petroleum and gas from other nations and is therefore very price-sensitive. Even though fuel prices are down from last year, fuel for personal vehicles is still quite a luxury. The Government also actively pushes the use of public transport."

Only 2% of American respondents say they will use more public transport in the next 12 months.

The survey also asked if people would be riding bikes or walking more often and an overall 9% agreed that they would. The highest results were Korea at 20%, Germany at 17%, China at 16% and Japan at 15%.

Shinya Goto, Head of Synovate Japan's Motoresearch team says that multiple factors are at work.

"Public transport, walking and bike riding are no doubt more popular in all these markets for similar reasons... the environment, exercise and economics. But in the case of Japan there is another important factor at work, one that has implications for the auto industry.

"The younger generation is moving away from personal transport. From the late teens to around 30, we see much less inclination to own a vehicle. These young people are environmentally aware and would rather spend their money on mobiles and clothes, taking public transport and creating a 'cocoon' with their mobiles or iPods. This is a real change from other generations."

CEO of Synovate Motoresearch, Scott Miller, says this trend will move beyond Japan.

"Two car households will become one car households. More and more, owning a car may not be viewed as that responsible.

"Smart car makers are already working to find types of vehicles and performance characteristics that will not make people feel responsible for environmental damage; and working to stop the reputation that cars are bad for the world.

"So it's not all doom and gloom - not by a long shot. Quite simply, cars are freedom... and people value freedom above most other things. If they continue to enjoy guilt-free freedom, the car will stay a large part of daily lives for many people."

About the Synovate global 'Dream versus green' cars survey
Numbers of people surveyed