The process of activity scheduling is crucial to the
understanding of travel behavior changes. In-depth research is urgently
needed to unearth this process. To reveal this process, a new computer
program, REACT!, has been developed to collect household activity
scheduling data. The program is implemented as a stand-alone program with
Internet connectivity for remote data transmission. It also contains a GIS
for location identification and a special feature that traces the
decisions in scheduling process. A pilot study was conducted in Irvine,
California to evaluate the program performance. Experience from the pilot
study validated the program’s capability of guiding participants to
complete data entry tasks on their own, thus the objective of reducing the
cost and human resource of such a computerized survey is achieved. Other
positive results regarding objectives of reducing instrumental biases and
expanding program capabilities were also obtained. Areas for improvement
were also identified.
Based on the pilot data, activities with shorter duration were found more
likely to be opportunistically filled in a schedule already anchored by
their longer duration counterparts. In addition, the situations (e.g.,
location, involved person, and day of the week) under which an activity
occurred were found related to its scheduling horizon. Analyses were also
performed to validate that the above findings hold in the presence of a
third factor (i.e., in-home vs. out-of-home, and work/school vs.
non-work/school). Additionally, analysis of tour structure reveals that a
certain portion of trip-chains was formed opportunistically. The
proportion of opportunistic stops tends to increase as stop sequence
increase. Travel time required to reach an activity is also positively
related to scheduling horizon of the activity, with distant stop being
planned earlier.
