Have our travel habits changed due to digitalization?
As Information and Communication Technology (ICT) gained prevalence during the 1990s, hopes were high that the new technology would lead to a dramatic reduction in the need for personal travel. However, the actual implications of ICT have proven to be difficult to study and measure.
Summary report (in English) and full report (in Swedish)
This report shows that it has consequently been difficult to show, at the aggregate level, that travel has decreased as a result of increased ICT use, although there are many isolated examples in which new technology has been used to replace personal travel.
Much of the research concerning the connection between ICT and travel has focused largely on teleworking and telecommuting, as the ability to work from home was seen early on to have major potential to reduce the need for personal travel. The literature concerning the prevalence of telecommuting and its effects on travel is thus extensive. However, much of the research was based on what is now an antiquated form of ICT use, where the user is presumed to be sitting at a stationary computer.
