Towards understanding travel in the digital age: A cross-dimensional one-week diary of individual virtual and physical activities in Indonesian cities

Abstract

The increasing prevalence of information and communication technology (ICT), particularly through smartphones, has profoundly shaped individuals’ daily schedules, making it an integral part of travel behaviour research. However, comprehensive data on daily virtual and physical activities as well as app usage behaviour remains limited. This paper describes the implementation of a survey to capture cross-dimensional weekly virtual-physical activities diary, including the details of travel, in-home, and out-of-home behaviour, extended smartphone app usage behaviour, and the psychological and perceived built environment factors affecting them. To our knowledge, this is the first attempt to expand the panel time-use survey to comprehensively capture daily smartphone app usage, the impact of such usage on travel, and their underlying behaviour (motivations and planned behaviour) in developing countries. Furthermore, it aims to demonstrate the possible usefulness of this dataset in assessing the impact of ICT on travel. The survey was deployed in Jakarta, Bandung, Denpasar, and Cianjur in Indonesia from May 2022 to January 2023. The protocol, mechanism, location, instrument, survey process, and preliminary data are described in the paper. Out of all respondents approached in all cities, 1,193 respondents over 18 years of age, or only 39 %, participated in the study. Respondents reported engaging in 23–32 activities daily and multitasking with average of 2–3 activities. The data collection process for this survey highlighted the importance of utilising both paper-and-pencil surveys and digital questionnaires, providing assistance and incentives, and maintaining open communication with respondents. This approach ensured successful data collection from individuals residing in different Indonesian cities, taking into account their diverse ICT qualities, education levels, and standards of living. Preliminary analysis shows that different combinations of travel and time use characteristics correlate with individuals’ sociodemographic profile and residential location but not all perceived built environment conditions and personality traits. Integrating information on virtual and physical activities into conventional time-use data provides a better understanding of daily activity participation. The result also shows that the impact of app usage on travel varies across sociodemographic groups and cities. Apps usage by senior workers tends to create varied effects, either creation or avoidance of travel. Residents of Jakarta, a megapolitan area that provides more opportunities and economic intensity, tend to use multiple apps to avoid taking trips and generating new activities. The result also demonstrates that leisure app usage has multiple effects on travel and that the generation of new activities is associated with spontaneous app usage decisions. These preliminary results and extensive variables collected in this study highlight opportunities for future research on ICT and travel.