Smartphone-Based Survey for Real-Time and Retrospective Happiness Related to Travel and Activities

Understanding and incorporating measures of travel and activity well-being in transportation research are critical for the design and evaluation of policies. In recent years, several efforts have been made to quantify travelers’ subjective well-being by using a self-reported state of happiness during participation in various activities or travel patterns. The inadequacies of these conventional survey methods in collecting uninterrupted and comprehensive information have restricted the number of such studies. In this study, a smartphone-based sensing platform was adapted to collect mobility information and measure happiness. Two surveys were conducted with respondents from five continents. Real-time and retrospective happiness measures are compared and explained. Results indicate that different cognitive biases affect the levels of happiness reported by the individuals. In comparison with staying at home, performing work and education activities tends to result in lower levels of happiness, while performing other activities tends to result in higher levels of happiness. Activity duration has a significant effect on real-time happiness but is less significant for retrospective happiness.