Understanding multimodality through rhythm of life. An empirical evidence from the Swiss case study.

The car dominance car in the urban transport system may contribute to health and environmental troubles. In recent years, multimodality appears as a central issue for public policies as they try to encourage and develop the modal shift in favour of walking, cycling and public transportation. In the scientific debate, the interest for multimodality is relatively recent (Heinen, 2018). The large majority of studies aim at identifying the predictors of multimodality behaviours depending of geographical context, households characteristics and activities patterns (Heinen et Mattioli, 2017; Buehler et Hamre, 2015; Susilo et Axhausen, 2014). Other scientific contributions show that having a multimodal behaviour is largely associated with urban lifestyles. For example, urban areas offer good conditions for promoting this kind of behaviour (Nobis, 2007). However, few studies have investigated how good lifestyles may be at predicting a multimodal behaviour. The development of high commuting and bi-residential behaviours illustrates the diversification and complexification of lifestyles due to a better accessibility and the democratization of ICTs (Kaufmann, 2008; Ravalet et al., 2015). These technical evolutions involve a social acceleration (Rosa, 2010) which can be measured by the number of mobility sequences within a given period of time. Our hypothesis is that this densification of life rhythms could foster the use of a car. Based on the swiss microcensus “mobilité et transport” (2015), this chapter shows the existing relations between life rhythms and mode choice on the one hand and sociodemographic characteristics on the other.