The traditional focus of transportation geography has been on the movement of people; in this sense, the concerns of transportation geographers have been with life on the road. The information revolution creates opportunities for a growing proportion of interactions to occur in the frictionless realm of cyberspace and thereby poses questions about life off the road. With this in mind, this paper reflects on some of the challenges that information technology (IT) poses for transportation geography. It is argued that IT will expand access and equity only if it enriches social capital, requiring innovative ways of meshing off-the-road with on-the-road practices. Transportation geographers must think creatively about how the growing presence of IT can help mitigate inequality of access and help foster sustainable transportation.
Samenvatting