Activities while travelling? Travel time perception and time use in an era of automated driving

Abstract

Digitalization and automation of road vehicles will potentially change the way people spend and perceive travel time in the future. Automated driving opens up new opportunities to spend the travel time on other activities while travelling in a presumably more comfortable way. Considering the high uncertainty regarding the future impact of vehicle automation on mobility behavior and its importance for future transport planning and policy, analyzing the potential changes in travel time perception and time use from a user perspective becomes increasingly important. Leading questions include how, by whom, and in which context ‘additional’ time – as active driving is no longer necessary – can be used and which are other important determinants of changes in travel time valuation in an autonomous vehicle. This chapter investigates risks and opportunities of potential changes in the value that people attribute to travel time. It provides a comprehensive review of relevant literature. Based on state-of-knowledge on the topic and results from own empirical works, the authors conceptualize the role of the context as an important determinant of alternative travel time perception and time use. Finally, policy implications and future research needs are discussed.