Activity engagement and travel behavior are dynamic concepts that are inherently complex. Recently, the generational transition from baby boomers as the largest generational cohort in the US to millennials has added a layer of complexity to our understanding of activity engagement and travel behavior. The challenge stems in part from the fact that millennials are “digital natives” or the first generation to generally be exposed to technology during childhood, with implications for adulthood preferences, activity and travel behavior. This does come with a potential benefit for the environment via reduced travel more generally and car travel more specifically. In fact, “Peak car” is one hypothesized manifestation of changes brought about by the generational transition that is gaining importance in the literature. Another, less discussed manifestation pertains to the changes in the balance between virtual and physical activities. In this study, we examine the association between millennial-specific factors, such as the childhood experience with technology, and adulthood engagement in virtual rather than physical activities. We do so by applying a comprehensive life-stage approach borrowed from a larger study examining the impacts of the generational shift on travel behavior. Results suggest that individuals who were more technologically-engaged during childhood are associated with higher levels of technology engagement and higher virtual than physical leisure activities as adults. Such results provide important insights at the policy level, helping inform efforts aimed at promoting sustainable travel and provide researchers with a comprehensive framework to tackle research questions related to young people’s travel behavior. This will only gain importance as more “digital natives” become transport users.

活动参与和旅行行为是动态的概念，本质上是复杂的。最近，从作为美国最大的一代人的婴儿潮一代到千禧一代的代际转变为我们对活动参与和旅行行为的理解增加了一层复杂性。挑战部分源于这样一个事实，即千禧一代是“数字原住民”或第一代在童年时期普遍接触技术的人，这对成年后的偏好、活动和旅行行为有影响。通过更广泛地减少出行和更具体地减少汽车出行，这确实为环境带来了潜在好处。事实上，“巅峰汽车”是文学中越来越重要的代际转换带来的变化的一种假设表现。其他，较少讨论的表现形式与虚拟活动和物理活动之间的平衡变化有关。在这项研究中，我们研究了千禧一代特有的因素（例如童年对技术的体验）与成年后参与虚拟活动而非身体活动之间的关联。为此，我们采用了一种全面的生命阶段方法，该方法借鉴了一项更大规模的研究，该研究考察了代际转变对旅行行为的影响。结果表明，在童年时期技术参与度更高的人在成年后与更高水平的技术参与度和更高的虚拟休闲活动相关。这些结果在政策层面提供了重要的见解，帮助为旨在促进可持续旅行的努力提供信息，并为研究人员提供一个全面的框架来解决与年轻人旅行行为相关的研究问题。随着越来越多的“数字原住民”成为交通用户，这只会变得越来越重要。