THE RELATION BETWEEN DAILY TRAVEL AND USE OF THE HOME COMPUTER

R J. Hjorthol

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

2002

Subject Area

operations - traffic, operations - service span, planning - methods, planning - surveys, ridership - commuting, ridership - commuting, mode - mass transit

Keywords

Working hours, Work trips, Work days, Upper income groups, Travel surveys, Travel behavior, Transit, Telecommuting, Technology, Rush hour, Public transit, Personal computers, Peak hour traffic, Ownership, Norway, Men, Mass transit, Males, Local transit, Journey to work, Hours of service (Work hours), Hours of labor, Flexible hours, Flex time, Empirical methods

Abstract

This paper analyzes the relationship between use of the home computer (stationary communication technology) and daily travel activity in general (mobile technology). The empirical analyses are based on two interrelated data sets: a Norwegian national personal travel survey from 1997/98 and a mail survey on the use of information and communication technology at home. Results show no direct substitutionary effects of the use of stationary technology at home on the use of mobile technology. Access to and use of information technology does not seem to have a significant impact on travel activities in daily life; instead, stationary communication seems to be a supplement to activities based on mobile technology. Stationary technology seems to give people who work more than normal weekly working hours greater flexibility in regard to where to work but does not necessarily reduce their travel activity. There is a tendency for people who own home computers to make fewer work trips, but this does not affect the total number of daily trips. The spatial flexibility gives a temporal flexibility, which means that work trips and other trips can be more dispersed over the day. The positive consequence can be a reduction in the rush-hour traffic; the negative is that it is more difficult to offer a high frequency public transport service when travel needs are more spread in time. These analyses also reveal a relationship between the ownership of cars and the ownership of computers, with men and high-income groups being the most frequent users and owners of both cars and home computers.

Comments

Transportation Research Part A Home Page: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/09658564

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