During the first 100 years of the telephone, many writers have suggested that the telephone will substitute for travel (Pool, 1983). The evident growth in VMT and passenger-miles travelled (PMT) and in telephone use, suggests that predicting an overriding substitution effect was erroneous. In the 21st century information age, in contrast to the industrial age and the days of the plain old telephone, many see a bright, optimistic future with regard to substitution of telecommunications for travel. This chapter critically reviews this rationale, and suggests that several and more complicated relationships are at play. It describes the relationships between telecommunications and travel and the research approaches employed in this area. The basic question addressed is whether or not transportation professionals should count on telecommunications as a significant factor in transportation planning and policy. It also takes a fresh look at this question, a decade later that the first edition of this Handbook.
Abstract