Investigation of “core stops” in weekly activity-travel patterns

Temporal rhythms in travel and activity patterns are analyzed thanks to a seven-day travel diary collected on 707 individuals in the city of Ghent (Belgium) in 2008. Repetitive activity-travel behavior, i.e. “core stops”, is detected, through combinations of attributes of activity at destination, travel mode, trip arrival time and destination location. People tend to concentrate their weekly activity-travel patterns on a few anchoring “core stops” despite a large dispersion. Core stops concern essentially mandatory activities, on weekdays and early in the morning or in the end of afternoon. Within couple and families some coordination in schedules would imply more regularity and hence core stops. Working status and especially work duration have a significant positive impact on core stop behavior. Controlling for work duration, a higher level of diploma is associated with a less repetitive activity-travel behavior.
This is a stimulating perspective for modeling or ex-ante evaluating behavioral adaptations to changes in the transport context.