Does working from home reduce CO2 emissions? An analysis of travel patterns as dictated by workplaces

Abstract

This research provides new evidence about the relationship between travel behavior, workplace diversification, and environmental impact in the United Kingdom using data from the National Travel Survey for the period between 2002 and 2017. The path analysis approach based on SEM handles both direct and indirect effects and allows for a comprehensive study of travel behavior, trade-off effects, and work and non-work trips. The results suggest that workplace diversification is often reflected by longer average distances for work trips, which are often associated with more remote residential locations. Findings also show that for some categories, such as teleworkers and home-based workers, trade-off effects are observed between work and non-work trips, which increase CO2 emission levels. IntroductionA number of key developments have affected the labor market over recent decades. These include the increased participation of women in the labor force, the changing nature of the employer-employee relationship, and the growing role of information and communication technologies (ICT). These developments have tended to modify daily work patterns in terms of both time-schedules and workplace locations. The changes in the working day and, in particular, the diversification of workplaces (as with teleworking) may potentially contribute to a strategy for managing travel demand so as to reduce congestion and the negative environmental impacts of transportation such as greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). Nonetheless, studies of teleworking tend to identify a series of rebound effects, such as the trade-off between commuting and non-work trips, or residential relocation (Ory and Mokhtarian, 2006;Ravalet and Rerat, 2019). Although previous scholars have explored the impacts of telework on travel patterns, few studies have highlighted how other changes in the workplace, such as multiple work locations or home-based work (Mokhtarian and Henderson, 2000) might affect travel behavior.Commuting and business-related trips aside, the changes affecting workplaces also have significant effects on non-work trips. Work location and schedules play a structuring role in the daily activity program and are likely to affect other trip purposes as well, such as shopping, recreational, and health-related trips (Aguilera et al., 2009). On the one hand, a large proportion of individuals' non-work trips are undertaken in conjunction with work-related travel. On the other hand, the development of ICT increases the

Factors influencing home-based telework in Hanoi (Vietnam) during and after the COVID-19 era

“…However, assigning the cause of the better air quality during the COVID-19 period to telework in Hanoi is problematic because of the stops of other possible sources of emissions such as construction and tourism travels. When educating the public about the positive effects of telework on the environment, it is better to concentrate on reduced emissions owing to a reduction in the number of commuting trips rather than all types of trips because more travelled kilometers of non-work and non-commute trips are seen for teleworkers (Cerqueira et al 2020 ; de Abreu e Silva and Melo 2018 ; Helminen and Ristimäki 2007 ; Kim et al 2015 ; Pendyala et al 1991 ).…”

“…Telecommuting, as its name indicates (i.e., commuting), is a term orienting toward transport. Telework, meanwhile, is a more general term orienting toward a new and innovative form of working, many aspects of which have been studied in academia by researchers from various disciplines, such as transportation science (Aguilera et al 2016 ; Cerqueira et al 2020 ; Helminen and Ristimäki 2007 ; Loo and Wang 2018 ; Mokhtarian et al 1995 ), urban planning (Mokhtarian et al 2004 ), information science (Iscan and Naktiyok 2005 ), organizational behavior (Bailey and Kurland 2002 ; Santana and Cobo 2020 ; Stiles 2020 ), and sociology (Hobbs and Armstrong 1998 ; Mokhtarian et al 1998a ; Tremblay 2002 ).…”

“…Initially, authors focused on using data of pilot programs to measure reductions in trips and travelled distances for both teleworkers and their households to demonstrate telework’s transport-specific advantages (Helminen and Ristimäki 2007 ; Henderson and Mokhtarian 1996 ; Mokhtarian et al 1995 ; Pendyala et al 1991 ). However, some scholars such as Cerqueira et al ( 2020 ), de Abreu e Silva and Melo ( 2018 ), and Zhu and Mason ( 2014 ) contradicted the above advantages by using large-scale datasets. Other scholars focused on the state-of-the-art practices of telework in developed countries to conclude that telework has been emerging but far below the initial expectations of its advocates such as Handy ( 1984 ), Nilles ( 1976 ).…”

Perception and Preference for Home-Based Telework in the COVID-19 Era: A Gender-Based Analysis in Hanoi, Vietnam

“…While its advantages mentioned above are well-reported, the same is true for its disadvantages. Some of the obvious drawbacks of HBT are a decrease in the likelihood of professional advancement, significant professional isolation, new occupational diseases, and even an increase in travels, which challenges the HBT's role in travel demand management, not to mention other issues arising from working in a number of contrasting locations [31][32][33]. Partially due to these disadvantages, the development of HBT varies across countries but is still below the expectations of its advocates [13,33,34].…”

Face-to-Display Working: Decarbonisation Potential of not Commuting to Work before Covid-19 and during and after Lockdowns

“…However, for short car commutes or those done by public transport, working from home could increase CO 2 emissions due to extra residential energy consumption (Crow & Millot, 2020). A recent study shows that for some categories, such as teleworkers and home-based workers, trade-off effects are observed between work and non-work trips, which increase CO 2 emission levels (Cerqueira et al, 2020). Everything depends on individual demands relating to commuting.…”