IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/transa/v190y2024ics0965856424003240.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Influence of telecommuting on out-of-home time use and diversity of locations visited: Evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Bouzaghrane, Mohamed Amine
  • Obeid, Hassan
  • Villas-Boas, Sofia B.
  • Walker, Joan

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to unforeseen changes in travel and activity behavior, most notably the wide adoption of telecommuting across various sectors of the workforce. This paper investigates the impact of telecommuting on time use and the number of unique locations visited, both of which have been shown to be closely linked to well-being. Previous telecommuting research often relies on cross-sectional data for which it is difficult to control for unobserved confounding, only analyzes impacts of time-use at the daily level, and has yet to quantify the impact of telecommuting on diversity of locations visited. We use quasi-experimental designs to control for unobserved confounders and extend previous research to identify whether the daily impacts of telecommuting on time-use are additive or substitutional at the weekly level. We use passively collected Point of Interest (POI) data between January 2020 and September 2022, supplemented by five waves of survey responses throughout the COVID-19 pandemic (August 2020, October 2020, December 2020, April 2021, and July 2021) from a panel of U.S. smartphone users. We find that on telecommuting days, workers spend significantly more time at out-of-home non-work locations, estimated to be 114 min prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, decreasing in the early stages of the pandemic to 63 min, and recovering to approximately 120 min in 2022, estimates that are within the range of estimates presented in previous literature. While existing literature focuses on single day analyses, our weekly analysis suggests that daily differences due to telecommuting are substitutional, with the effect of an additional day of telecommuting on time-use at the weekly level being null. Our extension to analyze the impacts of telecommuting on the number of unique locations visited shows that an additional day of telecommuting results in an average decrease of 0.35 in the number of unique weekly locations visited. Collectively, our findings suggest that while telecommuting does not diminish the overall weekly time spent at out-of-home non-work locations, it decreases the diversity of such locations on a weekly level.

Suggested Citation

  • Bouzaghrane, Mohamed Amine & Obeid, Hassan & Villas-Boas, Sofia B. & Walker, Joan, 2024. "Influence of telecommuting on out-of-home time use and diversity of locations visited: Evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:190:y:2024:i:c:s0965856424003240
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2024.104276
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965856424003240
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.tra.2024.104276?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Deborah Salon & Matthew Wigginton Conway & Denise Capasso da Silva & Rishabh Singh Chauhan & Sybil Derrible & Abolfazl (Kouros) Mohammadian & Sara Khoeini & Nathan Parker & Laura Mirtich & Ali Shamshi, 2021. "The potential stickiness of pandemic-induced behavior changes in the United States," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 118(27), pages 2106499118-, July.
    2. Alan B. Krueger & Daniel Kahneman & David Schkade & Norbert Schwarz & Arthur A. Stone, 2009. "National Time Accounting: The Currency of Life," NBER Chapters, in: Measuring the Subjective Well-Being of Nations: National Accounts of Time Use and Well-Being, pages 9-86, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Pengyu Zhu, 2012. "Are telecommuting and personal travel complements or substitutes?," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 48(2), pages 619-639, April.
    4. Mokhtarian, Patricia L & Koenig, Brett E & Henderson, Dennis K, 1995. "The Travel and Emissions Impacts of Telecommuting for the State of California Telecommuting Pilot Project," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt6rw695kc, University of California Transportation Center.
    5. Sangho Choo & Patricia Mokhtarian & Ilan Salomon, 2005. "Does telecommuting reduce vehicle-miles traveled? An aggregate time series analysis for the U.S," Transportation, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 37-64, January.
    6. Jose Maria Barrero & Nick Bloom & Steven J. Davis, 2020. "60 Million Fewer Commuting Hours Per Day: How Americans Use Time Saved by Working from Home," Working Papers 2020-132, Becker Friedman Institute for Research In Economics.
    7. Kitamura, Ryuichi & Mokhtarian, Patricia L. & Pendyala, Ram M., 1991. "An Evaluation of Telecommuting As a Trip Reduction Measure," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt1096f8wt, University of California Transportation Center.
    8. Obeid, Hassan & Anderson, Michael L. & Bouzaghrane, Mohamed Amine & Walker, Joan, 2024. "Does telecommuting reduce trip-making? Evidence from a U.S. panel during the COVID-19 pandemic," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    9. Kitamura, Ryuichi & Fujii, Satoshi & Pas, Eric I., 1997. "Time-use data, analysis and modeling: toward the next generation of transportation planning methodologies," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 4(4), pages 225-235, October.
    10. Brandon J. Restrepo & Eliana Zeballos, 2020. "The effect of working from home on major time allocations with a focus on food-related activities," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 1165-1187, December.
    11. Su, Rongxiang & McBride, Elizabeth C. & Goulias, Konstadinos G., 2021. "Unveiling daily activity pattern differences between telecommuters and commuters using human mobility motifs and sequence analysis," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 106-132.
    12. Theo G van Tilburg & Stephanie Steinmetz & Elske Stolte & Henriëtte van der Roest & Daniel H de Vries & Deborah Carr, 2021. "Loneliness and Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Study Among Dutch Older Adults," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 76(7), pages 249-255.
    13. Ettema, Dick & Gärling, Tommy & Olsson, Lars E. & Friman, Margareta, 2010. "Out-of-home activities, daily travel, and subjective well-being," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 44(9), pages 723-732, November.
    14. Stanley, John K. & Hensher, David A. & Stanley, Janet R. & Vella-Brodrick, Dianne, 2011. "Mobility, social exclusion and well-being: Exploring the links," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 45(8), pages 789-801, October.
    15. Kim, Seung-Nam & Choo, Sangho & Mokhtarian, Patricia L., 2015. "Home-based telecommuting and intra-household interactions in work and non-work travel: A seemingly unrelated censored regression approach," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 197-214.
    16. Patricia L. Mokhtarian, 2019. "Subjective well-being and travel: retrospect and prospect," Transportation, Springer, vol. 46(2), pages 493-513, April.
    17. Safirova, Elena, 2002. "Telecommuting, traffic congestion, and agglomeration: a general equilibrium model," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 26-52, July.
    18. Cynthia Chen & Patricia Mokhtarian, 2006. "Tradeoffs between Time Allocations to Maintenance Activities/Travel and Discretionary Activities/Travel," Transportation, Springer, vol. 33(3), pages 223-240, May.
    19. Laura Alessandretti & Piotr Sapiezynski & Vedran Sekara & Sune Lehmann & Andrea Baronchelli, 2018. "Evidence for a conserved quantity in human mobility," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 2(7), pages 485-491, July.
    20. Brandon J. Restrepo & Eliana Zeballos, 2022. "Correction to: Work from Home and Daily Time Allocations: Evidence from the Coronavirus Pandemic," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 759-761, September.
    21. Mokhtarian, Patricia L. & Handy, Susan L. & Salomon, Ilan, 1995. "Methodological issues in the estimation of the travel, energy, and air quality impacts of telecommuting," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 283-302, July.
    22. de Abreu e Silva, João & Melo, Patrícia C., 2018. "Does home-based telework reduce household total travel? A path analysis using single and two worker British households," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 148-162.
    23. John Stanley & David A. Hensher & Janet Stanley & Graham Currie & William H. Greene & Dianne Vella-Brodrick, 2011. "Social Exclusion and the Value of Mobility," Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, University of Bath, vol. 45(2), pages 197-222, May.
    24. Brandon J. Restrepo & Eliana Zeballos, 2022. "Work from home and daily time allocations: evidence from the coronavirus pandemic," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 735-758, September.
    25. Vanessa Wight & Sara Raley, 2009. "When Home Becomes Work: Work and Family Time among Workers at Home," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 93(1), pages 197-202, August.
    26. Budnitz, Hannah & Tranos, Emmanouil & Chapman, Lee, 2020. "Telecommuting and other trips: an English case study," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    27. Lucas, Karen, 2012. "Transport and social exclusion: Where are we now?," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 20(C), pages 105-113.
    28. Anne C Krendl & Brea L Perry & Derek M Isaacowitz, 2021. "The Impact of Sheltering in Place During the COVID-19 Pandemic on Older Adults’ Social and Mental Well-Being," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 76(2), pages 53-58.
    29. Sampath, Srikanth & Saxena, Somitra & Mokhtarian, Patricia L., 1991. "The Effectiveness of Telecommuting as a Transportation Control Measure," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt0km7985p, University of California Transportation Center.
    30. Melo, Patrícia C. & de Abreu e Silva, João, 2017. "Home telework and household commuting patterns in Great Britain," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 1-24.
    31. Patricia L. Mokhtarian, 1998. "A Synthetic Approach to Estimating the Impacts of Telecommuting on Travel," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 35(2), pages 215-241, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ozbilen, Basar & Wang, Kailai & Akar, Gulsah, 2021. "Revisiting the impacts of virtual mobility on travel behavior: An exploration of daily travel time expenditures," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 49-62.
    2. Georges A. Tanguay & Ugo Lachapelle, 2019. "Potential Impacts of Telecommuting on Transportation Behaviours, Health and Hours Worked in Québec," CIRANO Project Reports 2019rp-07, CIRANO.
    3. Pengyu Zhu & Liping Wang & Yanpeng Jiang & Jiangping Zhou, 2018. "Metropolitan size and the impacts of telecommuting on personal travel," Transportation, Springer, vol. 45(2), pages 385-414, March.
    4. Andrew Hook & Victor Court & Benjamin K Sovacool & Steven Sorrell, 2020. "A Systematic Review of the Energy and Climate Impacts of Teleworking," Working Papers hal-03192905, HAL.
    5. Melo, Patrícia C. & de Abreu e Silva, João, 2017. "Home telework and household commuting patterns in Great Britain," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 1-24.
    6. Elldér, Erik, 2020. "Telework and daily travel: New evidence from Sweden," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    7. Wang, Xinyi & Mokhtarian, Patricia L., 2024. "Examining the treatment effect of teleworking on vehicle-miles driven: Applying an ordered probit selection model and incorporating the role of travel stress," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    8. Rafiq, Rezwana & McNally, Michael G. & Sarwar Uddin, Yusuf & Ahmed, Tanjeeb, 2022. "Impact of working from home on activity-travel behavior during the COVID-19 Pandemic: An aggregate structural analysis," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 35-54.
    9. Nicholas S. Caros & Jinhua Zhao, 2022. "Preparing urban mobility for the future of work," Papers 2201.01321, arXiv.org.
    10. Caldarola, Bernardo & Sorrell, Steve, 2022. "Do teleworkers travel less? Evidence from the English National Travel Survey," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 282-303.
    11. Pengyu Zhu, 2013. "Telecommuting, Household Commute and Location Choice," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 50(12), pages 2441-2459, September.
    12. Patrícia C. Melo, 2022. "Will COVID‐19 hinder or aid the transition to sustainable urban mobility? Spotlight on Portugal's largest urban agglomeration," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(S1), pages 80-106, November.
    13. Beck, Matthew J. & Hensher, David A., 2022. "Working from home in Australia in 2020: Positives, negatives and the potential for future benefits to transport and society," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 271-284.
    14. Dianat, Alireza & Nurul Habib, Khandker, 2024. "Understanding the post-pandemic evolution of telecommuting preferences by using a panel stated preference survey," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 138-147.
    15. Balbontin, Camila & Hensher, David A. & Beck, Matthew J., 2024. "The influence of working from home and underlying attitudes on the number of commuting and non-commuting trips by workers during 2020 and 2021 pre- and post-lockdown in Australia," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    16. José Ignacio Giménez-Nadal & Jorge Velilla, 2024. "Home-based work, time allocations, and subjective well-being: gender differences in the United Kingdom," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 51(1), pages 1-33, February.
    17. Minh Hieu Nguyen, 2021. "Factors influencing home-based telework in Hanoi (Vietnam) during and after the COVID-19 era," Transportation, Springer, vol. 48(6), pages 3207-3238, December.
    18. Wang, Kaili & Hossain, Sanjana & Nurul Habib, Khandker, 2022. "What happens when post-secondary programmes go virtual for COVID-19? Effects of forced telecommuting on travel demand of post-secondary students during the pandemic," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 62-85.
    19. de Abreu e Silva, João & Melo, Patrícia C., 2018. "Does home-based telework reduce household total travel? A path analysis using single and two worker British households," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 148-162.
    20. Böhnen, Carina & Kuhnimhof, Tobias, 2024. "Working from home and commuter travel in germany – panel data analysis of long-term effects," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:190:y:2024:i:c:s0965856424003240. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/547/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.