Teleworking in the Netherlands: an evaluation of changes in travel behaviour

This article describes the first experiment on teleworking in the Netherlands, and presents the results of an analysis of the impact of teleworking on the travel behaviour of the participants in the experiment and their household members. It was concluded that teleworking has resulted in a significant decrease in the total number of trips by teleworkers (–17%). Peak-hour traffic by car has been reduced even more (–26%). An unexpected result was that the household members of the teleworkers also appeared to travel less than before the experiment.     

Telecommuting and travel: state of the practice,state of the art

This paper provides an overview of the status of telecommuting in the United States, especially as it relates to changes in travel behavior. Regarding the state of the practice, the paper discusses some refinements to the definition of telecommuting that have developed through increased operational experience. It reports several policy statements involving telecommuting, and explores the appeal of telecommuting as a public policy instrument. It highlights some trends in the implementation of home-based and work center-based telecommuting, and suggests that visible public-sector involvement has been crucial to the increased activity in this area.In sketching the state of the art, the paper outlines some frequently-stated hypotheses on telecommuting and travel behavior, and summarizes current empirical findings relating to those hypotheses. Finally, it suggests a variety of topics suitable for further research. These include studying factors influencing the ultimate adoption levels of telecommuting; impacts on energy/air quality, mode choice, and location/urban form; interactions with other transportation demand management strategies; relationships to the traditional urban travel demand forecasting process; cost/benefit tradeoffs; and telecommuting centers.     

Activity settings and travel behaviour: A social contact perspective

Using time-use data from Canada, Norway, and Sweden, this study briefly outlines the essence of the activity setting approach and illustrates one aspect of its usefulness by exploring the impact of social contact on travel behaviour. The activity system approach views behaviour in context. Activity settings are generic components of the activity system and studying them using time-use diaries can provide major insights into travel behaviour. Focusing on social contact, this paper characterizes the social environment in terms of social circle (interaction partners) and social space (location). The analysis shows that there are clear differences in the levels of social interaction across various groups, including those who work at home. The 1992 Canadian data showed people working at the workplace spend relatively more time with others, about 50% of total time awake. Working at home reduced the time with others to a low of 15.7%. when people worked at home the family benefited, almost doubling the time spent with them compared to those working at the workplace. Persons working at home only spend the most time alone. There is a tendency for persons with low social interaction to travel more. It is argued that individual need, or want, social contact and if they cannot find it at the workplace they will seek it elsewhere thus generating travel. Whether this is the result of need or opportunity is of minor relevance, what it does suggest is that working in isolation at home will not necessarily diminish travel but rather may simply change its purpose. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The trade-off between trips and distance traveled in analyzing the emissions impacts of center-based telecommuting

Several travel indicators were compared between telecommuting (TC) days and non-telecommuting days for a sample of 72 center-based telecommuters in California. Distance traveled decreased significantly on TC days, with average reductions of 51 person-miles (58%) and 35 vehicle-miles (53%). When weighted by telecommuting frequency, average reductions of 11.9% in PMT and 11.5% in VMT were found over a five-day work week. Person-trips and vehicle-trips increased slightly (but not significantly) on TC days. This was due to statistically significant increases in commute trips by telecommuters (who more often went home for lunch on their TC days), partly counteracted by decreases in non-commute travel. The drive-alone mode share increased on TC days, both for all trips, and for commute trips in particular. Walking and biking shares also increased modestly on TC days, whereas shares of transit and ridesharing declined. Despite the increase in trip rates, TC-day reductions were found for all pollutants analyzed: 15% for total organic gas emissions, 21% for carbon monoxide, 35% for oxides of nitrogen, and 51% for particulate matter. The reduction in VMT more than compensated for the marginal increase in number of trips (and consequently, cold starts) on telecommuting days.     

The implications of travel profiles for transportation investment: The Bronx Center Project

Investment in transportation infrastructure is generally regarded as an effective means for inducing economic growth and employment in a region. However, the ability of such investments to achieve these objectives, to a large extent, depends on the degree to which travel results from these investments support or conflict with present travel patterns and needs in this region. Using this view as a basis, this paper analyzes travel conditions and choices in the Bronx New York, where large scale transportation and other development projects (commonly called the Bronx Center Project) are presently taking place. Using a large data base, composed of census tract information on socio-economic and travel behavior, the paper first examines the travel profile of the Bronx population, by estimating travel choice elasticities. On the basis of these elasticities it then assesses the impact of the Bronx Center Project on travel patterns and trends.     

Reintroducing attitude theory in travel behavior research: The validity of an interactive interview procedure to predict car use

A methodological challenge is to develop methods which satisfy the need in transport planning of accurately forecasting travel behavior. Drawing on a review of the current state of attitude theory, it is argued that successfully forecasting travel behavior relies on a distinction between planned, habitual, and impulsive travel. Empirical illustrations are provided in the form of stated-response data from two experiments investigating the validity of an interactive interview procedure to predict household car use for different types of trips, either before or after participants were required to reduce use.     

Integrating parking behaviour in activity-based travel demand modelling: Investigation of the relationship between parking type choice and activity scheduling process

Traditionally, the parking choice/option is considered to be an important factor in only in the mode choice component of a four-stage travel demand modelling system. However, travel demand modelling has been undergoing a paradigm shift from the traditional trip-based approach to an activity-based approach. The activity-based approach is intended to capture the influences of different policy variables at various stages of activity-travel decision making processes. Parking is a key policy variable that captures land use and transportation interactions in urban areas. It is important that the influences of parking choice on activity scheduling behaviour be identified fully. This paper investigates this issue using a sample data set collected in Montreal, Canada. Parking type choice and activity scheduling decision (start time choice) are modelled jointly in order to identify the effects of parking type choice on activity scheduling behaviour. Empirical investigation gives strong evidence that parking type choice influences activity scheduling process. The empirical findings of this investigation challenge the validity of the traditional conception which considers parking choice as exogenous variable only in the mode choice component of travel demand models.