IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/transa/v163y2022icp148-164.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

‘On a road to nowhere….’ analyzing motivations for undirected travel

Author

Listed:
  • Hook, Hannah
  • De Vos, Jonas
  • Van Acker, Veronique
  • Witlox, Frank

Abstract

This study is the first to empirically analyze motivations for taking undirected travel (UT) trips, or travel without a destination (as opposed to derived trips) undertaken for the purpose of the trip itself, as the determinants and characteristics are largely unknown. The overall research objective is to explore UT motivations in terms of demographics and trip characteristics, such as mode, frequency, distance, and duration, using survey data from Flanders, Belgium during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown (18 March – 4 May 2020). First, a factor analysis identifies four main motivations for UT: 1. Improving Health and Well-Being, 2. Removing Negative Feelings, 3. Enjoying Scenery, and 4. Out-of-Home Socializing. Following, differences in UT motivations across groups are analyzed with mean-comparisons of demographic characteristics, trip characteristics, and attitude and well-being measurements. Findings suggest a clear relationship between UT and physical/mental health. There are stronger motivations for active than motorized UT trips, and stronger motivations associated with use of multiple modes. Longer (distance and duration) and more frequent UT trips increasingly fulfill all motivations. This research provides more evidence for the idea that travel is not always a derived demand for which less is always better, or an ancillary event to other activities, and can offer baseline empirical information on UT from which future studies can grow as well as contribute information about the value of travel.

Suggested Citation

  • Hook, Hannah & De Vos, Jonas & Van Acker, Veronique & Witlox, Frank, 2022. "‘On a road to nowhere….’ analyzing motivations for undirected travel," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 148-164.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:163:y:2022:i:c:p:148-164
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2022.06.009
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965856422001628
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.tra.2022.06.009?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Reid Ewing & Robert Cervero, 2010. "Travel and the Built Environment," Journal of the American Planning Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 76(3), pages 265-294.
    2. Mokhtarian, Patricia L. & Salomon, Ilan, 2001. "How derived is the demand for travel? Some conceptual and measurement considerations," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 35(8), pages 695-719, September.
    3. Ye, Runing & De Vos, Jonas & Ma, Liang, 2020. "Analysing the association of dissonance between actual and ideal commute time and commute satisfaction," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 47-60.
    4. Eriksson, Lars & Friman, Margareta & Gärling, Tommy, 2013. "Perceived attributes of bus and car mediating satisfaction with the work commute," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 87-96.
    5. Patricia L. Mokhtarian & Michael N. Bagley, 2002. "The impact of residential neighborhood type on travel behavior: A structural equations modeling approach," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 36(2), pages 279-297.
    6. Lothlorien Redmond & Patricia Mokhtarian, 2001. "The positive utility of the commute: modeling ideal commute time and relative desired commute amount," Transportation, Springer, vol. 28(2), pages 179-205, May.
    7. Jain, Juliet & Lyons, Glenn, 2008. "The gift of travel time," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 81-89.
    8. Le, Huyen T.K. & Buehler, Ralph & Fan, Yingling & Hankey, Steve, 2020. "Expanding the positive utility of travel through weeklong tracking: Within-person and multi-environment variability of ideal travel time," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    9. Ettema, Dick & Gärling, Tommy & Olsson, Lars E. & Friman, Margareta, 2010. "Out-of-home activities, daily travel, and subjective well-being," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 44(9), pages 723-732, November.
    10. Larson, Douglas M. & Lew, Daniel K., 2005. "Measuring the utility of ancillary travel: revealed preferences in recreation site demand and trips taken," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 39(2-3), pages 237-255.
    11. Steg, Linda, 2005. "Car use: lust and must. Instrumental, symbolic and affective motives for car use," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 39(2-3), pages 147-162.
    12. Daniel Kahneman & Peter P. Wakker & Rakesh Sarin, 1997. "Back to Bentham? Explorations of Experienced Utility," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(2), pages 375-406.
    13. Cao, Xinyu (Jason) & Mokhtarian, Patricia L. & Handy, Susan L., 2009. "The relationship between the built environment and nonwork travel: A case study of Northern California," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 43(5), pages 548-559, June.
    14. Jonas De Vos & Tim Schwanen & Veronique Van Acker & Frank Witlox, 2013. "Travel and Subjective Well-Being: A Focus on Findings, Methods and Future Research Needs," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(4), pages 421-442, July.
    15. Ory, David T. & Mokhtarian, Patricia L., 2005. "When is getting there half the fun? Modeling the liking for travel," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 39(2-3), pages 97-123.
    16. Cook, Simon, 2021. "Geographies of run-commuting in the UK," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    17. Ed Diener & Derrick Wirtz & William Tov & Chu Kim-Prieto & Dong-won Choi & Shigehiro Oishi & Robert Biswas-Diener, 2010. "New Well-being Measures: Short Scales to Assess Flourishing and Positive and Negative Feelings," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 97(2), pages 143-156, June.
    18. Daniel Kahneman & Alan B. Krueger, 2006. "Developments in the Measurement of Subjective Well-Being," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(1), pages 3-24, Winter.
    19. Handy, Susan & Cao, Xinyu & Mokhtarian, Patricia L., 2005. "Correlation or causality between the built environment and travel behavior? Evidence from Northern California," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt5b76c5kg, University of California Transportation Center.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. De Vos, Jonas & Witlox, Frank, 2017. "Travel satisfaction revisited. On the pivotal role of travel satisfaction in conceptualising a travel behaviour process," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 364-373.
    2. Jonas De Vos & Patricia L. Mokhtarian & Tim Schwanen & Veronique Van Acker & Frank Witlox, 2016. "Travel mode choice and travel satisfaction: bridging the gap between decision utility and experienced utility," Transportation, Springer, vol. 43(5), pages 771-796, September.
    3. Jonas De Vos, 2019. "Analysing the effect of trip satisfaction on satisfaction with the leisure activity at the destination of the trip, in relationship with life satisfaction," Transportation, Springer, vol. 46(3), pages 623-645, June.
    4. Hook, Hannah & De Vos, Jonas & Van Acker, Veronique & Witlox, Frank, 2021. "Do travel options influence how commute time satisfaction relates to the residential built environment?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    5. Ye, Runing & De Vos, Jonas & Ma, Liang, 2020. "Analysing the association of dissonance between actual and ideal commute time and commute satisfaction," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 47-60.
    6. De Vos, Jonas, 2018. "Do people travel with their preferred travel mode? Analysing the extent of travel mode dissonance and its effect on travel satisfaction," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 261-274.
    7. Eric Morris & Erick Guerra, 2015. "Mood and mode: does how we travel affect how we feel?," Transportation, Springer, vol. 42(1), pages 25-43, January.
    8. Vale, David S., 2013. "Does commuting time tolerance impede sustainable urban mobility? Analysing the impacts on commuting behaviour as a result of workplace relocation to a mixed-use centre in Lisbon," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 38-48.
    9. Morris, Eric A., 2015. "Should we all just stay home? Travel, out-of-home activities, and life satisfaction," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 519-536.
    10. Lorenz, Olga, 2018. "Does commuting matter to subjective well-being?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 180-199.
    11. De Vos, Jonas & Witlox, Frank, 2013. "Transportation policy as spatial planning tool; reducing urban sprawl by increasing travel costs and clustering infrastructure and public transportation," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 117-125.
    12. Milakis, Dimitris & Cervero, Robert & van Wee, Bert & Maat, Kees, 2015. "Do people consider an acceptable travel time? Evidence from Berkeley, CA," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 76-86.
    13. Jonas De Vos & E. Owen D. Waygood & Laurence Letarte & Mengqiu Cao, 2022. "Do frequent satisfying trips by public transport impact its intended use in later life?," Transportation, Springer, vol. 49(4), pages 1245-1263, August.
    14. Patricia L. Mokhtarian, 2019. "Subjective well-being and travel: retrospect and prospect," Transportation, Springer, vol. 46(2), pages 493-513, April.
    15. Patrick A. Singleton & Kelly J. Clifton, 2021. "Towards measures of affective and eudaimonic subjective well-being in the travel domain," Transportation, Springer, vol. 48(1), pages 303-336, February.
    16. Olga Lorenz, 2017. "Does Commuting Matter to Subjective Well-Being?," IAAEU Discussion Papers 201707, Institute of Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU).
    17. Bindong Sun & Jie Lin & Chun Yin, 2021. "How does commute duration affect subjective well-being? A case study of Chinese cities," Transportation, Springer, vol. 48(2), pages 885-908, April.
    18. Zuoxian Gan & Tao Feng & Min Yang, 2018. "Exploring the Effects of Car Ownership and Commuting on Subjective Well-Being: A Nationwide Questionnaire Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-20, December.
    19. Enayat Mirzaei & Dominique Mignot, 2021. "An Empirical Analysis of Mode Choice Decision for Utilitarian and Hedonic Trips: Evidence from Iran," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-23, June.
    20. Wheatley, Daniel, 2014. "Travel-to-work and subjective well-being: A study of UK dual career households," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 187-196.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:163:y:2022:i:c:p:148-164. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/547/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.