Exploring Relationships between Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Use and Travel

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore relationships between actual amount of information and communications technology (ICT) use and travel by developing trip generation models. The data for this study come from an ICT use and activity diary survey of 269 households of Seoul Metropolitan Area in 2006. We first conducted pair-wise correlation tests between ICT (Internet, mobile phone, and land-line phone) use and travel (number of trips). The test results show that ICT use and travel are positively correlated. We also developed regression models of number of trips considering socio-demographic variables as well as ICT use variables. It turned out that ICT use variables have statistically significant positive effects on travel. Furthermore, assuming that interrelations between ICT and travel exist, structural equation models were developed taking them as endogenous variables. The model results strongly suggest that ICT use positively affects travel (indicating complementary effects).