This singular book describes various aspects of the commuting experience and delineates a process linking causes and consequences of commuting stress. The authors quote extensive survey data from metropolitan areas and examine literature on the known psychological, physiological, attitudinal, and behavioral consequences of commuting. They then provide a model integrating these variables. This comprehensive text features specific coping recommendations at the individual, governmental, and organizational levels.
Several people have asked what motivated us to write a book about commut ing, something that we all do but over which we have very little control. As a matter of fact, the general reaction from professional colleagues and friends alike was first a sort of knowing smile followed by some story. Everyone has a story about a personal commuting experience. Whether it was a problem with a delayed bus, a late arrival, broken-down automobiles, hot trains or subways, during the past year we have heard it all. Many of these stories must be apocryphal because, if they were all true, it is amazing that anyone ever arrived at work on time, at home, or at some other destination. The interest for us likely stems from many factors that over the years have probably influenced our thinking. All of the authors studied and/or grew up in the New York City metropolitan area. For illustration, let's devote a few paragraphs to describing some of the senior author's (Koslowsky's) life experiences. As a young man in New York City, he was a constant user of the New York City subway system. The whole network was and still is quite impressive. For a relatively small sum, one can spend the whole day and night in an underground world (growing up in New York often makes one think that the whole world is contained in its five boroughs).
In the modern world we are surrounded by technology. Gadgets such as cell phones, portable computers, and electronic diaries accompany us throughout the day. But is this a good thing? Are we being served by these technological wonders, or have we become enslaved by them? Does constant availability via technology make us more efficient or more stressed? Is our ability to connect with others all over the world, day or night, making us more sociable or turning us into recluses in a virtual world? This book considers the impact of technology on the different spheres of our life - work, home, family and leisure - and assesses ways in which to build better communication between technology developers and society to ensure that technology enhances our lives and psychological well-being, rather than damaging them.
This edited collection brings together feminist research on transport and planning from different epistemologies, with the intention to contribute to a more holistic transport planning practice. With a feminist perspective on transport policy and planning, the volume insists on the political character of transport planning and policy, and challenges gender-blindness in a policy area that impacts the everyday lives of women, men, girls, and boys. The chapters discuss everyday mobility as an embodied and situated activity in both conceptual and theoretical ways and suggest practical tools for change. The contributions of this collection are threefold: integrating gender research and transport planning, combining quantitative and qualitative gender research perspectives and methods, and highlighting the need to acknowledge the politicization of transport planning and transport practice.
This text contains an up-to-date survey of theory, research and practice in environmental psychology, drawing on international literature. It adopts the perspective that physical and social factors are inextricably linked in their influence on human behaviour and experience and that the world in which we live is changed and often damaged by human action.; Throughout the text, the issues which are important in contemporary psychology, such as levels of explanation, methodological diversity and the relationship between psychology and other disciplines, are brought to the fore. The text covers established areas of environmental concern and also brings together research on rarely covered topics, such as the effects of smell, colour and light, and the way in which physical environments influence social identity.
"A runaway trolley is speeding down a track" So begins what is perhaps the most fecund thought experiment of the past several decades since its invention by Philippa Foot. Since then, moral philosophers have applied the "trolley problem" as a thought experiment to study many different ethical conflicts - and chief among them is the programming of autonomous vehicles. Nowadays, however, very few philosophers accept that the trolley problem is a perfect analogy for driverless cars or that the situations autonomous vehicles face will resemble the forced choice of the unlucky bystander in the original thought experiment. This book represents a substantial and purposeful effort to move the academic discussion beyond the trolley problem to the broader ethical, legal, and social implications that autonomous vehicles present. There are still urgent questions waiting to be addressed, for example: how AVs might interact with human drivers in mixed or "hybrid" traffic environments; how AVs might reshape our urban landscapes; what unique security or privacy concerns are raised by AVs as connected devices in the "Internet of Things"; how the benefits and burdens of this new technology, including mobility, traffic congestion, and pollution, will be distributed throughout society; and more. An attempt to map the landscape of these next-generation questions and to suggest preliminary answers, this volume draws on the disciplines of philosophy, sociology, economics, urban planning and transportation engineering, business ethics and more, and represents a global range of perspectives.
Flexible Work: Designing Our Healthier Future Lives examines flexible working through the lens of social science, in particular using psychological perspective to address not only what forms of flexible working there are and how they are evolving but also their prospect in the future of work. Bringing together views from thought-leaders and underpinned by research evidence, this book addresses two of the most fundamental business challenges for large and medium organisations – mental health and productivity – calling for the bridging of science and policy to design flexible working for our future healthier lives. Growing from these foundations, this book explains the latest landscape in flexible working, looking at employee psychological health and productivity, including showing up for work sick. Perspectives are provided from around the world on leadership, line management, ‘over attachment’ with technology, commuting, skill-based inequality and control over working time. Readers are offered insights into the relevance of flexible working for a diverse workforce – invisible disabilities, disabilities, older workers and blended families. Throughout, the book offers suggestions for shaping future policy, practice and research. Each chapter concludes with recommendations, making this essential reading for students, academics, human resource practitioners, policy-influencers, policymakers and professionals interested in flexible work.
This volume analyses the relevance of daily travel in the quality of life of individuals. It provides a broad understanding of the links between life satisfaction, well-being and travel, the importance of commuting, and different evaluations and measures to assess the experience of commuting and quality of life. Chapters in this book relate travel and quality of life to the built environment, accessibility and exclusion, travel mode choice, travel satisfaction and emotions. It brings together distinguished researchers from a variety of academic backgrounds providing conceptualizations and applications, presented as case studies, for daily travel and well-being. Findings presented in this book are highly relevant for transport planners, transport marketers, public transport authorities, and environmental professionals in the pursuit of improving people’s life.
