Social networks, ICT use and activity-travel patterns. Data collection and first analyses

New information and communication technologies (ICT’s), gain importance and are changing people’s daily lives. With the introduction of new ICT’s, alternatives for face-to-face contacts and physical presence are provided. In that sense, ICT may offer a substitute to physical travel. Other potential relationships between telecommunication and travel are neutrality, complementation or modification. The relationship between ICT and activitytravel patterns has received a substantial amount of attention recently. However, a link with the wider activity patterns of individuals and households and environmental characteristics is missing in existing studies. The spatial and mobility impacts of social networks are not well known either. However, social networks are crucial to an understanding of travel behaviour. The most important part of travel demand for non-work purposes in terms of distance travelled is for socializing with network members. Hence, individuals’ social network characteristics are relevant for their propensity to perform social activities. The study of social networks can provide new insights to understand the generation of social activities and travel involved. In order to increase our understanding of the interrelationships between properties of the built environment, ICT-use, social networks and activity-travel patterns, these links should be the starting point for analysis. This paper presents a data collection instrument that was developed to study these links and the results of an application of the instrument in a survey among a large sample of households in the Eindhoven region, and discusses the implications of the findings for planning support models.