Teens, Technology, & Transportation: A mixed method exploration of the digital lives of high school students

In this study, we find that millennial teens use digital devices to construct new intersections between communication, information, and transportation. By also actively employing these devices in our research, we are using novel methods for understanding the ‘digital lives’ of teens, which represent a mix of traditional analog techniques and exploratory digital methodologies. In this presentation we examine issues including how often and in what ways high school students use advanced electronic communication tools to arrange transportation, what travel needs are being met and modes used, and how social processes contextualize the use of digital tools for mobility. We conclude by reflecting on how the daily lives of these teens may serve as a harbinger of emerging intersections of mobility, communication, and place.

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