Mobile ICTs and physical mobility: Review and research agenda Anne Aguiléra a,⇑ , Caroline Guillot b , Alain Rallet c a Université Paris-Est, Ifsttar, LVMT, 6-8 Avenue Blaise Pascal, Champs sur Marne, 77455 Marne la Vallée Cedex, France b Telecom ParisTech – Département Sciences Economiques et Sociales (SES), Laboratoire Traitement et Communication de l’Information (LTCI – CNRS), 46 rue Barrault, 75013 Paris, France c Université Paris-Sud, ADIS, Faculté Jean Monnet, 54 Boulevard Desgranges, 92231 Sceaux Cedex, France article info Article history: Received 4 January 2011 Received in revised form 6 December 2011 Accepted 5 January 2012 Keywords: Mobile ICTs Mobile phone Mobility abstract The question of the relationship between the spread of communication tools and the phys- ical mobility of individuals is not new and arose with the arrival of the fixed telephone and, more recently, the development of the Internet and especially e-commerce. The extraordi- nary spread of individual, especially portable, communication tools like the mobile phone, has recently generated new interest in this topic in the fields of transportation economics, geography and sociology. This article discusses the main topics that have been explored, from the debate between complementarity and substitution to analyses in terms of inter- actions with the spatiotemporal organization of daily activities, the size and maintenance of social networks, and, finally, perception of travel and spaces. We then identify several issues that we think merit further exploration. Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The issue of the links between the development of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and individual travel behaviour is not a new one (Mokhtarian, 2009; Salomon, 1986). The issue was first raised with, in particular, the arrival of the fixed telephone in the home (Claisse and Rowe, 1993), then, more recently, with the development of the Internet and, in particular, online shopping (Golob and Regan, 2001). The spectacular spread of personal communication devices, especially portable ones such as the mobile phone, has recently generated renewed interest in this topic in the fields of transport economics, geography and sociology. This paper provides a critical analysis of the issues that have been explored in the recent literature, in order to highlight those which we consider worthy of further attention. Our main observation is that in spite of the changes that have occurred in the ownership and uses of ICTs, the most impor- tant issue has remained substantially unchanged. The principal concern today, particularly in the field of transport econom- ics, is still the opposition between complementarity or even generation effects and substitution effects: do ICTs stimulate or reduce travel demand? In spite of a large amount of empirical research, the answer is still fairly unclear, even though the idea of complementarity or generation dominates (Mokhtarian, 2009). It would be difficult to hold the contrary view, as surveys do not show any marked reduction in travel (except during periods of greatly increased energy prices). The approach which opposes complementarity and substitution nevertheless suffers from some serious limitations. To avoid excessive complex- ity, studies are generally forced to consider only a single technology (for example online shopping), and only individual effects (when household effects are probably just as important), focus on a single trip purpose (for example shopping), and furthermore consider only a single dimension of travel (for example the number of daily trips but not the distance or vice versa) (Krizek and Johnson, 2003). The first part of this paper examines this research in greater depth and explains 0965-8564/$ - see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.tra.2012.01.005 ⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +33 1 64 15 21 02; fax: +33 1 64 15 21 40. E-mail addresses: anne.aguilera@ifsttar.fr (A. Aguiléra), caroline.guillot@enpc.fr (C. Guillot), alain.rallet@u-psud.fr (A. Rallet). Transportation Research Part A 46 (2012) 664–672 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Transportation Research Part A journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tra