Social Capital Theories of Activity and Mobility Behavior

Social sustainability is primarily composed of three components: human capital, well-being, and social capital (Woodcraft 2012). Evidence-based study of sustainability involves the measurement through use of sustainability indicators. In transportation, social sustainability has primarily involved human capital (e.g. accessibility to work opportunities) and well-being (e.g. equity). There has been limited work on indicators of social capital in transport which is the focus of this research program. The research program seeks to develop social capital trheories of activity and travel behavior. The program seeks to develop proper measurement and modeling techniques to progress the use of social sustainability in evaluating and designing transportation systems as well as other sociotechnical systems.

Further study will propose to explore the theoretical significance of social capital on leisure activity behavior and residential choice. A social networks perspective provides values in understanding changes in the spatial distribution of social networks and activities. These efforts will lay foundational steps into developing social network-based activity-based modeling frameworks capable of predicting travel patterns under the adoption of disruptive technologies and analyzing socially-focused policy factors such as social isolation and social cohesion.​

Leisure Activity Variety and Frequency

Our research postulates that leisure activity is an outcome of social capital processes through the embedded resources in individuals' networks. We speculate that activity variety corresponds primarily to instrumental action which seeks the expand resource access and to gain profits. In contrast, activity frequency may correspond with expressive action that seeks to maintain resource access.

Developing Social Sustainability Indicators

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Transport Relevant Social Capital Measures

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Gender Differences in Social Capital & Activity

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