Orit Rotem-Mindali

Key research themes on ICT and sustainable urban mobility

Abstract Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are hypothesized to replace or change the use of the transport system by facilitating new or different activities. This article offers a review of more than 40 years of research regarding the relationship between ICTs and urban mobility. We discuss the expectations for the changes in travel demand, travel patterns, and the urban form as a result of the development and introduction of ICTs. Much of the interest in the relationships between ICTs and mobility is premised on the expectation of substitution effects, but empirical findings often suggest more complex effects than direct substitution. Although research on single types of travel activity may sometimes indicate simple substitution effects, examination of the broader impacts may also reveal travel generation effects as well. As such, ICTs do not simply substitute mobility patterns but change them. A growing body of research focuses on changing mobility patterns (in terms of time and space), changes in the experience of travel and changes in the perceptions of travel costs due to the interaction between old and new technologies for overcoming distance. ICTs are gradually becoming embedded within the transport system, enabling flexibility, multitasking, and an increase in human activities.

Modeling Consumers' Purchase and Delivery Choices in the Face of the Information Age

A major trend, recently drawing much attention, is the employment of new technologies in retailing. This involves a shift from some aspects of the traditional store format towards the introduction of electronic means of performing retail activities. E-retail encompasses three main activities—specifically, a product search activity (often referred to as a product-evaluation or information-gathering facility), an online purchase function, and the product delivery capability. Early studies have asserted that information technology would generate a revolution in the retail sector, owing to the potential of the web to reduce the costs of transaction, transportation, and searching. Yet the proportion of virtual shopping is significantly smaller than that of traditional shopping. An understanding of this difference can be obtained by modeling consumer choices. This paper will examine the different shopping activities, by modeling both purchase and delivery choices. Identifying the reasons that consumers use virtual (electronic) modes is crucial in order to influence the share of electronic shopping and to understand the potential impacts. Modeling the probability of using e-shopping should reveal the significant variables that may encourage or discourage the use of this mode of shopping.

E-Commerce: Implications for Travel and the Environment

Current consumption and its rapid increase are considered unsustainable. It may dramatically increase negative externalities on both the local and global scale. The adoption of information communication technology in retailing products is considered to have the potential to radically change the retail sector and affect sustainability. Current consumption patterns and the major developments in the retail system are reviewed. A discussion follows of the focus of e-commerce’s effects on social sustainability as well as its potential impacts on freight transportation and personal travel. To assess e-commerce’s net implications on sustainability, it is important to consider both the short and long term. The short-term implications involve environmental externalities and transport flows. The long-term implications include effects on urban nature and structure through its possible effect on retail spatial structure.