Abstract
Telecommuting is a Transportation Demand Management strategy to partially or completely replace the daily commute with telecommunication technologies. Research has revealed that telecommuting can be effectively done from special places provided for this purpose called telecenters. In telecenter-based telecommuting, trip lengths are shortened due to change in the location of work places. Thus suitable locations of telecenters play an important role in increasing the beneficial impacts of telecommuting in the transportation systems. In this research, a mathematical optimization model for finding optimal location and capacity of telecenters is proposed. This model is a bi-objective linear program, and a Fuzzy Goal Programming method with a preemptive structure is used to solve it. Telecommuting demand is classified into three groups of telecommuters and a priority structure that assigns the higher priority class to the closer telecenters is also incorporated into the model. The proposed model is implemented in a case study of finding optimal location of telecenters for government employees in Tehran (capital of Iran) metropolitan area. The base model is solved and its sensitivity to different parameters has been analyzed based on which, an optimal model is selected. The solution of this model is an optimal pattern for distribution of telecommuting capacities and yields the most system-wide benefits from implementation of telecommuting.
Highlights
Telecommuting is defined as use of telecommunication technologies to partially or completely replace daily work commute [1]
Telecommuting is based on the premise that general traffic flow condition improves if these work trips are eliminated or decreased and regarded as a Transportation Demand Managing (TDM) strategy
Telecommuting can be categorized as homebased or center-based. In the former, job tasks are accomplished at home whereas in the latter, employees perform their jobs at special places provided exclusively for this purpose, called telecommuting centers or telecenters
Summary
Telecommuting is defined as use of telecommunication technologies to partially or completely replace daily work commute [1]. Telecommuting is based on the premise that general traffic flow condition improves if these work trips are eliminated or decreased and regarded as a Transportation Demand Managing (TDM) strategy. Different classifications of telecommuting exist in the literature. Telecommuting can be categorized as homebased or center-based. In the former, job tasks are accomplished at home whereas in the latter, employees perform their jobs at special places provided exclusively for this purpose, called telecommuting centers or telecenters. Research has revealed that telecommuting from telecenters is more acceptable [1]. Different types of telecommuting result in different travel behaviors which impact the transportation system in different ways
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