The article introduces a design process for policy packaging, combining a heuristic approach with a real world example of European policy making. The policy packaging process is divided into six stages, starting with (1) the definition of goals and objectives, (2) the creation of an inventory of measures, (3) the formulation and assessment of the initial package, (4) the modification of the initial package through adding, adjusting or removing measures, (5) package implementation, and finally (6) the monitoring and evaluation of the package. The process stands as a generic, comprehensive framework developed as a means of guiding policy formulation and increasing the likelihood of efficient, effective and acceptable policy interventions. The approach is compared to practice, examining whether it can support policy formulation in relation to the EU 2011 White Paper on transport. It shows that several principles of the design process are already reflected by the White Paper, with some important differences also observed. While objectives, targets, and an inventory of measures are part of the White Paper, policies recommended for implementation are treated separately as discrete interventions. The White Paper hence lacks examples or recommendations as to how various measures might be combined in order to achieve the policy objectives. Based on a policy example from the White Paper, it is attempted to apply the heuristic framework and offer recommendations on how to best construct a policy package.

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For economic and environmental policy formulation and with the effort of creating less car dependent societies, it is important to study the changing characteristics of car ownership in a household through time as well as factors responsible of these variations. There is a vast body of literature on empirical studies of car ownership and use. These studies have investigated the socio-economic background of the decision maker, the built environment and the perception associated with owning a car as determinant factors of car ownership and use. In most cases, these analyses have been carried out using crosssectional data sets. However, the analysis of factors determining changes in travel behavior of an individual or household requires information on their behavior over time (longitudinal data set). In this study, the German Mobility Panel (1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006) is used to examine variation of car ownership through time and across households. The panel data modeling results showed that there are variations of car ownership between households whereas changes in car ownership of a given household over time (within household variations) are insignificant. The influence of other factors such as the households' socio-economic background, the availability of public transportation and shopping/leisure facilities, perception on parking difficulties and satisfaction with existing public transportation services on the car owning characteristics of households is also presented and discussed in this paper.

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