Travel behaviour changes under Work-from-home (WFH) arrangements during COVID-19

Abstract

Life, including working style and travel behaviour, has been severely disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The unprecedented number of work-from-home (WFH) employees after the outbreak of COVID-19 has attracted much scholarly attention. As it is generally believed that WFH arrangements are not ephemeral, it is imperative to study the impacts of WFH on travel behaviour and its impact on sustainable transport in the post-pandemic era. In relation, this study uses a set of longitudinal GPS tracking data in Switzerland to examine changes in trip characteristics (i.e. travel distance, travel time), travel behaviours (i.e. travel frequency, peak hour departure, trip destination, travel mode), and activities (i.e. trip pattern diversity, trip purpose, and time spent at home). Two groups of participants (WFH and Non-WFH) are identified and compared through three periods (pre-COVID, during lockdown, and post lockdown) from September 2019 to October 2020. Results show that more significant reductions of trip distance, travel time, travel frequency, morning peak hours trips, trips to the CBD are observed among the WFH group. These changes helped to mitigate negative transport externalities. Meanwhile, active transport trips, trip pattern diversity, leisure trips, and time spent at home also increased more significantly for the WFH group when compared to their counterparts. Hence, promoting WFH may not only be beneficial to teleworkers but also to the wider community through more sustainable transport. Future research direction and policy implications are also discussed.