TeleWorkInsights
@teleworkinsights.bsky.social
Insights on telework based on scientific research. Exploring the impacts of telework on mobility, cities, and lifestyles. Account managed by Benjamin Motte-Baumvol, Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi - SAFIR Research Institute .. more
Insights on telework based on scientific research. Exploring the impacts of telework on mobility, cities, and lifestyles. Account managed by Benjamin Motte-Baumvol, Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi - SAFIR Research Institute
Sociology
19%
Political science
19%
📚 Studies by Motte-Baumvol & Schwanen (2024), Güven (2024), and Conway & Zhang (2023) confirm: hybrid work reshapes the timing, not the volume, of road traffic. Without structural reforms, the net gain remains limited.
#TeleworkPolicy #SmartMobility #UrbanPlanning
#TeleworkPolicy #SmartMobility #UrbanPlanning
5️⃣ Teleworkers are still a minority. Their reduced presence on roads is often offset by others: essential staff, delivery workers, gig economy drivers. Traffic is a shared system; shifts by a few don’t ease conditions for all.
4️⃣ Urban rhythms constrain everyone. School starts at 8:00, stores open at 9:00, and appointments cluster mid-morning. Even teleworkers fall back into these patterns, making full peak-hour avoidance difficult.
3️⃣ Time saved from commuting is often reallocated to other trips. School drop-offs, gym, errands, and café stops all happen around the same peak periods. The road gets no rest—just different users.
2️⃣ Hybrid workers still go to work—just less often. Commuting 2–3 days per week reduces total trips, but unless many people stay home on the same days, peak-hour relief remains marginal. Timing shifts are fragmented, not coordinated.
🔍 Why does telework shift commute timing but not reduce travel?
1️⃣ Flexible schedules defer, not cancel, travel. Teleworkers often gain autonomy over when they travel—but not if they do. In-person meetings, site visits, or hybrid requirements keep them on the road, just at later hours.
1️⃣ Flexible schedules defer, not cancel, travel. Teleworkers often gain autonomy over when they travel—but not if they do. In-person meetings, site visits, or hybrid requirements keep them on the road, just at later hours.
📌 Wilson & Boateng (2018), Koźlak & Wach (2018), Odeleye & Umar (2021), and Yu & Xie (2024) all highlight the potential of integrating telework into smart mobility strategies and land use planning. But the institutional architecture is still lacking.
#RemoteWork #TransportPolicy #UrbanFutures
#RemoteWork #TransportPolicy #UrbanFutures
📍The research shows potential. But we need scale, planning, and complementary policies to activate it.
🛠️ Many authors nonetheless see telework as a promising policy lever to ease congestion—if used intentionally. It is not yet effective by itself, but it could complement broader transport reforms.
🛠️ Many authors nonetheless see telework as a promising policy lever to ease congestion—if used intentionally. It is not yet effective by itself, but it could complement broader transport reforms.
🧠 So what do we conclude? Most studies show only weak signs of traffic relief. Often, there is no impact. Sometimes, the rush hour is stretched.
🚦Overall, hybrid work doesn’t radically change traffic patterns. But telework remains a useful tool—as long as it's part of an integrated transport policy.
🚦Overall, hybrid work doesn’t radically change traffic patterns. But telework remains a useful tool—as long as it's part of an integrated transport policy.
🌆 Chen (2023) compares congestion to disease spread: collective shifts matter. Hybrid work delays congestion, but doesn’t remove it unless widely adopted.
10.54254/2755-2721/2/20220557
10.54254/2755-2721/2/20220557
📊 Zheng (2023) shows that non-commuting trips—like school and leisure—continue to generate pressure during peak hours. These compensate for fewer commuters.
10.54254/2754-1169/54/20230920
10.54254/2754-1169/54/20230920
📡 El-Sersy & El‐Sayed (2016) develop congestion detection algorithms and warn that timing shifts alone don’t cut volumes. Congestion persists unless the number of cars drops.
10.21608/iceeng.2016.30297
10.21608/iceeng.2016.30297
🏙️ Koźlak & Wach (2018) remind us that congestion is rooted in land use and institutional design. Telework helps only if combined with coordinated urban transport policy.
10.1051/shsconf/20185701019
10.1051/shsconf/20185701019
📉 Anbaroglu et al. (2016) show how irregular travel volumes reduce the reliability of congestion detection. Unless remote work reduces trips, the system adapts poorly.
10.5194/isprsarchives-xli-b2-159-2016
10.5194/isprsarchives-xli-b2-159-2016
📍 Yu & Xie (2024) stress that traffic predictions only improve when telework displaces trips—not when it just delays them. Behavior change matters more than timing alone.
10.23977/ftte.2024.040101
10.23977/ftte.2024.040101
📡 Odeleye & Umar (2021) recommend ICT-supported congestion alerts. But these need to be aligned with widespread telework to generate real system-wide improvements.
10.4314/njt.v40i1.1
10.4314/njt.v40i1.1
🧠 Wilson & Boateng (2018) suggest that smarter routing systems must integrate telework patterns to truly ease flow. Flexible work changes when—not always how—people move.
10.4314/gjs.v59i1.1
10.4314/gjs.v59i1.1
🚗 Li et al. (2023) find that WFH reduces car congestion only if it's accompanied by a shift away from cars. Otherwise, the impact on volumes is negligible.
10.54097/h2n1l8wc
10.54097/h2n1l8wc
📆 The same study finds limited signs of peak avoidance for commuting—but not for errands or leisure. Teleworkers still travel at rush hour, just for different reasons.
📉 Motte-Baumvol & Schwanen (2024) show that English teleworkers travel more overall than non-teleworkers. Their work trips are longer, and non-work travel during peak hours remains high.
10.1016/j.tbs.2023.100668
10.1016/j.tbs.2023.100668
🔢 Kushwaha et al. (2024) simulate Indian cities: traffic relief only appears when more than 50% of workers telework. Below this threshold, effects are minimal.
10.47392/irjaeh.2024.0102
10.47392/irjaeh.2024.0102
🛣️ Güven (2024) shows that in Istanbul, hybrid telework flattens the morning peak but stretches it through the morning. Full-time WFH reduces volumes more clearly, but few adopt it.
10.1177/03611981241236786
10.1177/03611981241236786
🚦Conway & Zhang (2023) analyze US metros and find that telework shifts commute times later but doesn’t eliminate travel. The 8AM peak becomes a "rush hour-and-a-half". Total volumes stay high.
10.1371/journal.pone.0290534
10.1371/journal.pone.0290534
🚘 THREAD — Does telework reduce road congestion and peak-hour traffic? Let’s unpack the evidence from recent peer-reviewed research. Impacts are nuanced and vary by time, mode, and city.
#Telework #WFH #HybridWork #WorkFromHome #Traffic #UrbanMobility
#Telework #WFH #HybridWork #WorkFromHome #Traffic #UrbanMobility
💡 Bottom line: public transport systems must rethink service models, revenue strategies, and spatial priorities in light of widespread telework adoption.
#HybridWork #MobilityShift #UrbanTransport #FareRevenue #CommutingPatterns #FlexibleWork #TransitFunding #Telecommuting
#HybridWork #MobilityShift #UrbanTransport #FareRevenue #CommutingPatterns #FlexibleWork #TransitFunding #Telecommuting
Transit agencies are rethinking fare structures and shifting investments toward service reliability over frequency.
#PublicTransport #TransitPolicy #RemoteWork
#PublicTransport #TransitPolicy #RemoteWork
🚌 A recent study by Combs and Piatkowski (2024, DOI: 10.1016/j.tranpol.2024.03.010) further reinforces these patterns. They find that U.S. cities with high telework prevalence have seen not just reduced peak-hour ridership, but also a slower recovery of weekday service levels.
📉 Hooper et al. (2023, DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2023.104379) note in London that rail stations in financial districts saw the most sustained drops in footfall. These spatial effects mirror office attendance, reinforcing the link between hybrid work and transit demand.
📉 Saxena et al. (2024) also document that Indian transit systems dependent on farebox recovery saw operating ratios deteriorate. Recovery has been uneven, and weekday revenue patterns have destabilized budget planning cycles.
💸 Magassy et al. (2023) further highlight that transit agencies in high-telework cities face structural budget gaps, as fixed costs persist but revenue from commuter flows declines. Agencies report cutting service frequency or delaying infrastructure upgrades.