An Investigation of Physical Participation Dissonance and Virtual Activity Participation

Physical out-of-home (OH) activity accessibility has been studied extensively in the transportation sector, but the recent growth in virtual online activities highlights the need to consider the rich interplay between physical and virtual activity participation. In particular, telework and delivery services present opportunities for new modalities of activity access, potentially expanding activity opportunities for those with limited physical accessibility. In this paper, using data from the 2022 National Household Travel Survey, we investigate (a) the intensity (and heterogeneity across individuals in this intensity) of discord between how much individuals would like to partake in physical OH participation and how much they actually are able to (we refer to this discord as physical participation dissonance or PPD), (b) the subjective reasons for PPD (c) the intensity of, and heterogeneity across individuals in virtual participation (measured by the intensity of teleworking and home deliveries), and (d) whether or not virtual participation reduces or increases PPD, and by how much. Our findings suggest a growing need to consider the relationship between physical and virtual participation, and provide insights for policymakers and transportation planners to improve overall activity accessibility (including expanding access to virtual opportunities) for disadvantaged populations.