Virtual mobility and travel behavior of young people – Connections of two dimensions of mobility

Kathrin Konrad and Dirk Wittowsky

Research in Transportation Economics, 2018, vol. 68, issue C, 11-17

Abstract: This article deals with the question whether the virtual mobility of young people affects their physical activities and mobility. The focus is on the verification of the substitution or enhancement thesis: Do virtual activities substitute trips, do they enhance additional trips or are they just another type of activities without any influence on physical mobility? We use individual data on the ICT use and travel behavior of 14- to 24-year-olds collected in the project U.Move 2.0. The data allow detailed analyses of the connection between virtual and physical mobility on an individual level. Our analyses show a slightly stronger enhancement effect of the ICT use although the enhancement and substitution of trips are not exclusive but rather coexist even on an individual level. Furthermore, virtual mobility as well as physical mobility and their connection have to be seen in a wider context of sociodemographic factors and milieus. Basically, the virtual and physical mobility of young people who grew up with ICT as a matter of course in their everyday lives are two supplementary types of activities that are connected in a complex way.

Keywords: Travel behavior; Social media; ICT; Digital natives; Young people; Substitution; Enhancement (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: R41 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:retrec:v:68:y:2018:i:c:p:11-17

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DOI: 10.1016/j.retrec.2017.11.002

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