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A Paradox of Telecommuting and Staggered Work Hours in the Bottleneck Model

Author

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  • Takara Sakai

    (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan)

  • Takashi Akamatsu

    (Graduate School of Information Sciences, Tohoku University, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan)

  • Koki Satsukawa

    (Institute of Transdisciplinary Sciences for Innovation, Kanazawa University, Ishikawa 920-1192, Japan)

Abstract

We study the long- and short-term effects of telecommuting (TLC), staggered work hours (SWH), and their combined scheme on peak-period congestion and location patterns. In order to enable a unified comparison of the schemes’ long- and short-term effects, we develop a novel equilibrium analysis approach that consistently synthesizes the long-term equilibrium (location and percentage of telecommuting choice) and short-term equilibrium (preferred arrival time and departure time choice). By exploiting their special mathematical structures similar to optimal transport problems, we derive the closed-form solution to the long- and short-term equilibrium while explicitly considering their interaction. These closed-form solutions elucidate the discrepancies between the effects of each scheme and uncover a paradoxical finding: the introduction of SWH, in conjunction with TLC, may increase the total commuting costs compared with the scenario with only TLC, without yielding any improvement in worker utility.

Suggested Citation

  • Takara Sakai & Takashi Akamatsu & Koki Satsukawa, 2024. "A Paradox of Telecommuting and Staggered Work Hours in the Bottleneck Model," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(6), pages 1335-1351, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ortrsc:v:58:y:2024:i:6:p:1335-1351
    DOI: 10.1287/trsc.2024.0520
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