How Useful is Travel-Based Multitasking? Evidence from Commuters in Portland, Oregon

Abstract

As research on travel-based multitasking-doing other things while traveling-becomes more common, some studies also investigate the quality or value of activity participation during travel. This idea of travel usefulness is a component of the positive utility of travel concept; understanding the benefits of travel-based multitasking is important for calculating accurate economic values trading-off travel time and other variables. This study analyzed travel usefulness and its potential determinants using a 2016 survey of about 650 commuters in the Portland, Oregon, area. Ordered logit models identified factors associated with subjective assessments of the overall usefulness of activity participation while on a recent commute trip. Around 90% of walk and bicycle commuters reported useful commutes, as did about half of transit commuters and auto passengers; however, half of auto drivers viewed their commutes as wasted time. Younger travelers, those with less frequent commutes, and people who reported "doing nothing" or more passive activities (window-gazing, daydreaming) on the trip were more likely to consider their commuting time to be a waste. Traveler perceptions were more closely associated with travel usefulness than socio-demographic characteristics. Results suggested that exercise and the physical activity benefits of walking and bicycling may be considered a useful form of travelbased multitasking. Overall, few common and traditionally-productive multitasked activities appeared to be useful. Instead, commuters may be doing things more to pass the time than to make productive use of it. These findings offer implications for understanding travel behavior interventions and the potential use of autonomous vehicles.

It’s not all fun and games: An investigation of the reported benefits and disadvantages of conducting activities while commuting

“…listening to the radio/music) may be initiated with the intention of reducing trip unpleasantness, and as such it reduces fatigue, but may not make the overall trip experience pleasant (Mokhtarian et al, 2015). These findings are supported by Singleton (2018), who examined the concept of travel usefulness (i.e. how useful would you rate the activities done during the trip, ignoring the value of getting to your destination), finding that some commuters may be engaging in activities simply to pass the time, rather than to make productive use of the time.…”

Validating the Satisfaction with Travel Scale as a measure of hedonic subjective well-being for commuting in a U.S. city

“…The STS was examined in the context of a study investigating both subjective well-being and travel-based multitasking (and, more broadly, the positive utility of travel concept) and their relationships with commute mode choice behavior (Singleton 2017(Singleton , 2018a(Singleton , 2018b. Between mid-October and mid-December 2016, working and commuting adults in and around Portland, Oregon, were recruited-primarily through their workplace email-to fill out a 30-minute online questionnaire, with the core of the survey asking respondents about their experiences while traveling on their most recent commute trip from home to work.…”

Do millennials value travel time differently because of productive multitasking? A revealed-preference study of Northern California commuters

“…Ohmori and Harata 2008); (2) the number of activities performed while traveling, controlling for socio-economic and mode attributes (e.g. Zhang and Timmermans 2010;Tang et al 2018); (3) the impact of travel-based multitasking on the subjective evaluation of trip experience (Ettema et al 2012;Susilo et al 2012;Rhee et al 2013;Rasouli and Timmermans 2014;Mokhtarian et al 2015;Shaw et al 2019;Singleton 2018); and (4) the influence of a multitasking-friendly travel experience on mode choice (Zheng et al 2016;Malokin et al 2019). Keseru and Macharis (2018) have compiled a comprehensive review of travel multitasking studies to date.…”