In the driver's seat

American Demographics, March, 1998 by Brad Edmondson

If you separate the workers from the non-workers, however, a different story emerges. Employed women may drive just as much or even more than employed men do. The reported commuting times of men and women workers are similar, according to Maritz. Moreover, working women are much more likely than men to stop and do household errands on their way to and from work. And women are far more likely than men to take some kinds of non-work trips, including shopping and escorting children.

Work commutes are often the foundation of a person's driving routine, but they account for only one-fifth of all person-trips, according to the NPTS. A "person-trip" is one person making one trip, so that a carpool of four people makes eight person-trips a day. Shopping consumes another one-fifth of person-trips, and one-fourth of person-trips are for miscellaneous family and personal reasons. Another one-fourth of person-trips are for social and recreational reasons, and the remaining one-tenth are trips to church or school.

For the average working woman, the daily morning ride is based around the work trip. But it might also include a school trip, because half of children aged 5 to 15 now arrive at school as passengers in private vehicles. The average woman's afternoon ride would also count as a commute, but perhaps a school trip as well--and it could also be two shopping trips, if she stops to pick up dry cleaning and shop for dinner. A man's work commute is more likely to be a simple point-to-point journey.

Transportation experts call the woman's ride a multiple-purpose trip, or "trip chaining." What it means is that women on their way to or from work are more likely than men to be thinking about buying things and taking care of other people. So even though men drive more, working women are a more important target for outdoor advertising that promotes grocery stores, dry cleaners, drive-through banks, or take-out food.

THE PHONE

Jack Jensen's first cellular phone was purchased for him by his employer. He was careful to use it only for important business calls, because each call costs at least a dollar. But now he makes about five calls a day, with only three business calls, and he pays for them himself. "I need to keep in touch with my friends and my kids, not just my clients," he says.

In 1988, about 2 million cellular phones were in use in the United States. That number has doubled every year since, and it shows no sign of slowing down. At the end of 1997, there were an estimated 62 million cellular-phone subscribers. As their numbers continue to grow, cellular-phone users will turn more billboards into direct-response advertising. Also, a billboard that is linked to a telephone number is more accountable to advertisers. Instead of relying on an estimated number of "impressions" based on traffic counts, the client will know exactly how many calls, and how much revenue, each billboard produces.

Nationally, 29 percent of drivers usually had a working phone in their car when the Maritz poll was taken in mid-1997. Men are only slightly more likely than women to have a phone. Drivers aged 25 to 34 and 35 to 44 were more likely than average to carry phones. Those aged 45 to 54 have an average likelihood of being wired, and drivers aged 55 to 64 are below average. The youngest drivers (aged 18 to 24) are far more likely than the oldest (aged 65 and older) to drive with a phone.