Commuting is one of the least enjoyable activities. It is often called ‘the stress that doesn’t pay’. In
order to understand commuting satisfaction and how it changes over time, this project will use a
life-oriented approach. This approach is based on a life course based research design of mobility
behaviour while also paying attention to the interaction with other life domains such as residential
environment, employment and time use. Such a longitudinal research design adds a dynamic layer
to the presently-dominant static interpretation of commuting satisfaction.
The project will evaluate the interaction between commuting satisfaction and the decision to move
to another residential location or to change workplaces. In addition to secondary datasets (EU-SILC
2013, PSELL III), the project will also collect new, innovative data by an online retrospective survey
and a 7 days smartphone tracking experiment in the cities of Ghent and Luxembourg. We will collect
data from a large sample of people residing in Ghent (Belgium) or Luxembourg city (Luxembourg),
and who recently moved residences or changed workplaces. First, using data from the online survey
we will analyze the interaction between commuting satisfaction, overall life satisfaction, satisfaction
with other life domains and life events. Then, tracking data will be used to explore the different
ways in which individual commuting trips contribute to an overall (dis)liking of commuting.