The effects of travel time use on activity-travel behaviour: knowledge consolidation and research agenda for current and future transport options

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

2025

Subject Area

economics - value of time, ridership - behaviour, planning - methods

Keywords

Travel-based multitasking, time-use, mode choice, value of travel time savings, travel experience, automated vehicles

Abstract

Travel time use – also called “travel-based multitasking” – has been increasingly recognised as an important component of activity-travel behaviour, influencing time-use and travel-related choices. This paper discusses a taxonomy issue in the literature and is the first to provide a systematic and comprehensive overview of the state of knowledge on the effects of travel time use on different dimensions of activity-travel behaviour, namely, time-use, mode choice, value of travel time savings, travel experience, and second-order effects. Regarding the taxonomy issue, we conceptualise when it is suitable to employ the terms “travel time use” and “(travel-based) multitasking”. Particularly, we suggest employing “travel time use” as the overarching term to refer to the act of undertaking activities while travelling, while “(travel-based) multitasking” is regarded as special case of travel time use when two or more cognitively/physically demanding tasks overlap. Regarding the knowledge consolidation, considering current and future transport options, we conduct a meta-synthesis to identify prevailing hypotheses about the effects of travel time use on activity-travel behaviour and then review empirical studies to examine the extent to which the current knowledge corroborates predominant hypotheses. Considering these findings, we discuss a research agenda to appraise the effects of travel time use on activity-travel behaviour.

Rights

Permission to publish the abstract has been given by Taylor&Francis, copyright remains with them.

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