7: The Influence of Mobile and Immobile Communications on Activity and Travel Scheduling

In much of the research on activity scheduling, there is a distinction drawn between “planned” and “spontaneous” activities. Furthermore a sequence of planned activities spread over time may often be thought of as part of an overall “project”. In an era of rapid deployment of mobile communications (mobile phones, SMA devices, smart PDAs etc), the distinction between planned and spontaneous activities may not be so clear-cut. The use of mobile communications can give rise to many situations in which spontaneous activities are created as a result of a communication episode, even though that activity might be part of a larger overall planned project.