An investigation of physical participation dissonance and virtual activity participation in the United States

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 in the United States, 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 results reveal that individuals from zero-worker households, households with fewer vehicles than drivers, low-income households, renting households, and households residing in rural areas all manifest a higher PPD, as do older individuals, racial minorities, non-drivers, and individuals with medical conditions. We find significant heterogeneity in the reasons for experiencing PPD and in virtual participation. Finally, virtual participation does seem to help reduce PPD for those in households with fewer vehicles than drivers, women, older adults, and individuals with medical conditions, but is not effective in reducing PPD for those in low-income, renting, and rural-residing households, as well as for racial minorities and non-drivers. These 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.