Smartphone and daily travel: How the use of smartphone applications affect travel decisions

Abstract

This paper aims to explore the covariates that affect the use of smartphones for trip planning as well as the covariates of perceived impact of smartphone use on travel outcomes. Trip planning activities considered in the study include performing online tasks, deciding departure time, mode choice decision, deciding trip destination and communicating and coordinating trips by using smartphones. Travel outcomes include the number of new places visited, social gatherings attended and trips planned in groups. This study emphasizes the role of built-environment and attitudinal variables on smartphone use for travel. Following ordered response and binary choice modeling approach, this study identifies that age and attitudes (toward smartphone use and environment) play a significant role in using smartphones for trip planning as well as shaping travel outcomes. Millennials (16–34 years) are more likely to use smartphones for trip planning and perceive increase in travel outcomes compared to other age groups. In addition, tech-savvy attitude is positively associated with trip planning and travel outcomes. However, the influence of built-environment characteristics is comparatively low in relation to the other attributes considered in the analysis. The study also finds that those who highly use smartphone apps for social networking purposes are more likely to perceive increase in their travel outcomes.