The impact of teleworking on English travel

The global pandemic has revived debates about the contribution of teleworking to reducing travel, air pollution, energy use and carbon emissions. However, previous research suggests that the availability of teleworking may encourage people to move farther from their place of work, creating the risk that the benefits of fewer commutes will be offset by longer commutes. In addition, teleworking may encourage additional non-work travel by the teleworker, and/or influence the travel behaviour of other household members. These complex interactions make the overall impacts of teleworking difficult to predict. In this context, we use data from the English National Travel Survey to estimate the impact of teleworking on the travel patterns of workers over the period 2005 to 2019. We compare the weekly distance travelled by teleworkers and non-teleworkers, and examine how this varies with frequency of teleworking. We estimate the impact of teleworking on the weekly distance travelled by purpose (work, non-work and total) and by mode (car, public transport and active) for both one-worker and two-worker households, while controlling for a range of socio-economic and demographic variables. Our preliminary results provide little support for the claim that teleworking reduces travel. Indeed, after controlling for a range of variables, we find that the majority of English teleworkers travel farther each week than non-teleworkers. This results from a combination of greater distances between home and workplace and additional non-work travel. There appears to be a ‘tipping point’ however: if people telework three or more times a week, their weekly commuting distance may be less than that of non-teleworkers. We discuss the factors contributing to these results and indicate priorities for further research.