Your mobile phone decides how you commute, finds IIT-B study

MUMBAI: Although most-preferred use of time while travelling was spent ‘doing’ nothing, owning a smartphone and using more than 1GB data pack per month has a significant impact on how Mumbaiities spend their time while travelling, visiting a bank or relaxing.

Out of 1,123 Mumbaiites surveyed by the two-member team at Indian Institute of Technology-bombay (IIT-B), 48.7% owned a smartphone and 32.1% had internet pack of more than 1GB.

About 51.6% individuals without smartphones did nothing while travelling. But the percentage reduced (29%) for those using smartphones.

Of those opting for less than 1GB internet pack, 46.6% individuals reported no engagement in any activity, while 26.5% idled their time with more than 1GB usage. Of all the activities, there was a marked difference in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) based reading for individuals with smartphones and those using more than 1GB data pack.

While 15.7% engaged in Ictbased reading on their smartphones, only 3.1% read with less than 1GB usage. But 22.4% read when their smartphone had more than 1GB usage.

“Use of mobile phone either supplements or complements travel behaviour, which has an impact on the reduction of travel demand,” said professor Arnab Jana, CUSE, IITB, also co-author of the study.