For several decades - and still today - mobility policies in industrialised countries have sought to reduce travel time to meet the expectations of infrastructure users for speed. However, despite major investments to achieve this objective of improving accessibility, the users' transport time budget does not reflect such a reduction. Furthermore, although there has been a positive trend in Europe in recent decades in terms of modal shift, many cities still struggle with the nuisances of car traffic.
In the perspective of modal shift, this research project aims to address the qualitative dimension of travel time. Beyond the controversies linked to the measurement of transport time-budget, the objective is to question the place of travel time - as experienced/perceived by individuals - in the choice of a travel mode, and then in the anchoring of modal practices. To this end, the research mobilises recent approaches grouped under the theme of 'travel-based multitasking' as well as notions approached in humanist geography and sociology such as usage or "dwelling". Regarding the latter, the thesis intends to distinguish sporadic and punctual activities conducted while traveling from uses of this space-time that fall into a familiarity regime, or "dwelling" regime, characterised by the handling of all the elements that make up the environment of daily commutes. Between affective relationship and personal convenience, the familiar experience of "dwelling" within travel time, rather than a lever to be activated mechanically by operators and public policy actors, might be counterproductive to modal shift.
The project's study perimeter corresponds to the main urban agglomerations of the Canton of Vaud as well as the cross-border perimeter of Greater Geneva.