No abstract

Travel-based multitasking, or the performance of activities while traveling, is more feasible than ever before, as the expanding availability of shared ride services and increasing vehicle automation coincide with the ubiquity of portable information and communication technology devices. However, the question of whether, and if so, how these increasingly blurred boundaries between activities are truly helping rather than hurting us is not presently well-understood. Using an attitudinally-rich travel survey of Northern California commuters (N ≈ 2500), we develop a conceptual and empirically-based framework for studying benefits and disadvantages of travel-based multitasking. Through latent variable models of reported benefits and disadvantages of activities conducted on a recent commute, we identify constructs associated with hedonic and productive benefits, and with affective and cognitive disadvantages. This empirically-developed framework informs the definition of binary variables indicating the presence/absence of each construct for a given traveler on the commute in question. We then present two bivariate binary probit models that examine the effects of person and trip attributes such as personality traits, chosen mode, commute preferences, and activities conducted while traveling on the presence of those benefits and disadvantages, respectively. Notably, we find evidence that conditions/activities that may facilitate multitasking benefits can also simultaneously yield disadvantages; for example, several activitiesconspicuously including talking on or otherwise using a phone -increase the probability of receiving benefits while also increasing the probability of experiencing cognitive disadvantages. This finding resonates with the general multitasking literature, and empirically corroborates the suggestion that travel-based multitasking may not uniformly increase trip utility.

Millennials, the demographic cohort born in the last two decades of the twentieth century, are reported to adopt information and communication technologies (ICTs) in their everyday lives, including travel, to a greater extent than older generations. As ICT-driven travel-based multitasking influences travelers’ experience and satisfaction in various ways, millennials are expected to be affected at a greater scale. Still, to our knowledge, no previous studies have specifically focused on the impact of travel multitasking on travel behavior and the value of travel time (VOTT) of young adults. To address this gap, we use an original dataset collected among Northern California commuters (N = 2216) to analyze the magnitude and significance of individual and household-level factors affecting commute mode choice. We estimate a revealed-preference mode choice model and investigate the differences between millennials and older adults in the sample. Additionally, we conduct a sensitivity analysis to explore how incorporation of explanatory factors such as attitudes and propensity to multitask while traveling in mode choice models affects coefficient estimates, VOTT, and willingness to pay to use a laptop on the commute. Compared to non-millennials, the mode choice of millennials is found to be less affected by socio-economic characteristics and more strongly influenced by the activities performed while traveling. Young adults are found to have lower VOTT than older adults for both in-vehicle (15.0% less) and out-of-vehicle travel time (15.7% less), and higher willingness to pay (in time or money) to use a laptop, even after controlling for demographic traits, personal attitudes, and the propensity to multitask. This study contributes to better understanding the commuting behavior of millennials, and the factors affecting it, a topic of interest to transportation researchers, planners, and practitioners.

Waiting, whether for services, for someone, or for something, is an inescapable part of life. This paper addresses a gap in the waiting time literature by examining previously sparsely studied relationships between individual-and travel-related characteristics and attitudes toward waiting using a revealed preference dataset of Northern California commuters (N = 2617). Correlational analyses, followed by a trivariate seemingly unrelated regression equations model, are developed for three waiting attitudinal constructs: general tolerance toward waiting, and attitudes toward equipped and expected waiting. Socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, time use perceptions and preferences, personality traits, multitasking attitudes (polychronicity), commute preferences and expectations, and general attitudes (e.g. pro-technology) are all seen to have significant effects on waiting attitudes. As this survey was executed on commuters, it also facilitates a unique simultaneous exploration of travel and wait time attributes, time uses that are often similarly viewed in day-to-day life. From this perspective, we see that longer commute times and distances are correlated with negative attitudes toward waiting, while commuters with pro-transit, prodensity, and pro-active transportation attitudes tend to have positive attitudes toward waiting. Additionally, we see that those with preferences for multitasking in general or at their jobs can tolerate waiting better. Overall, this study constitutes a distinctive contribution to the waiting time literature, capitalizing on a rich dataset to make important connections between related time uses and a multitude of other variables-key among them polychronicity, with its potential ability to reduce the negative perception and experience of waiting. Findings from this study may also benefit transportation and other service providers by facilitating an understanding of how various consumer groups/demographics view waiting, thus enabling providers to better cater to diverse needs/populations.