A conceptual analysis integrating urban travel choice with activity scheduling, memory of the urban environment, and place preferences

Activity-based analyses of urban travel have motivated empirical investigations into how travel choice depends on the ways in which people schedule their day-to-day activities. Several models of activity and travel scheduling have been developed and applied in transport planning. This article presents a selective overview of these models, with the aim of exploring how behavioural realism can be enhanced by integrating activity/travel scheduling with findings from environmental psychology research on urban cognition, specifically studies of spatial memory and place preferences. Three key issues are identified: (1) How information about the urban environment is acquired; (2) The roles played by external information; and (3) The consequences of partial or biased knowledge for activity/travel scheduling. Some existing models partially address these issues and could be extended to support the development of a theoretical framework. While such a framework may not at present improve the forecasting of activity/travel behaviour, it could inform infrastructure investment, transport planning, and public health policy, with the goal of facilitating activity and travel scheduling in ways that reduce time pressure and stress such that satisfaction with travel increases. Knowledge of perception and memory of the urban environment is then important to consider, as well as knowledge of what supports activities in places.