ICT, activity space–time and mobility: new insights, new models, new methodologies

Abstract

Over three decades have passed since research on the complex interrelationships between Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and travel behaviour began. Since then much has changed. Broadly speaking researchers have been chasing a complex and bi-directional moving target with both the development of digital technologies (what we refer to as three Internet generations) and changes to human behaviours coinciding side by side. As both transportation technologies and ICT contribute to remote activities, the impact of ICT on individuals' activities and related travel behaviour have been discussed. It is not surprising because untangling this issue is the basis of understanding travel behaviour in information age. In the mid 80 s and early 90 s scholars were trying to disentangle how telecommunications (as they were then called) would likely influence activity and travel patterns and an initial set of hypotheses were established by Salomon and Mokhtarian (Mokhtarian 1990;Salomon 1986). According to their framework telecommunications could substitute, complement, modify travel (route, mode, timing or destination) or have no effect at all. This simple and direct framework fitted well to the rather simple information technology of the time. The 1st Internet generation can traced to the opening of the World Wide Web (www) initially as a unidirectional protocol for passing on information content from producers to the users on sedentary end devices (desktops). Research focused mainly on the substitution/complementary relationships between virtual and physical activities especially e-working (teleworking/telecommuting-Mokhtarian and Salomon 1994) and e-shopping and how they affect the demand for travel (Cao 2012;Zhai et al. 2017). Another strand of research involved the influence of information on modification of travel choices based on the abundance of travel planners available on the web

The Future and Sustainability of Carpooling Practices. An Identification of Research Challenges

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New and emerging data forms in transportation planning and policy: Opportunities and challenges for “Track and Trace” data

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ICT use and spatial fragmentation of activity participation in post-COVID-19 urban societies

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