The development of intermodality implies the introduction of breaking points which are often disliked by the traveller. A certain amount of thought is currently being given to the technical factors likely to reduce their unpleasantness (ergonomically-designed stations, good connections, passenger information). The issue of the combining of interchanges with other urban facilities has not, however, been thoroughly investigated. What is at stake here is the development of these centres, the attractiveness of the transport chain and the possibility of modal transfer from the car, and also, in more general terms, the rationalisation of individual mobility practices in relation to daily activity schedules. As a result of changes in lifestyle, the present trend is towards more complex activity schedules and the development of a daily series of activities localised over increasingly vast and scattered areas. When exploiting the information obtained from mobility surveys, little work has been done on activity chains, and it has never been carried out with a view to helping in the production of interchange centres which would combine the technical aspect of transport with that of regional planning. Hence the aim of this paper is to develop, using the results of two mobility surveys carried out among French households, an analysis which will contribute to orienting the grouping of activities near major nodal points in the transport system. To this end, the nature of the successful activities, the order in which they are carried out and their frequency are identified (paying particular attention to those which occur between the home and the workplace) as well as the characteristics of those making the trips.
Samenvatting