IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/retrec/v98y2023ics0739885923000112.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Working from home 22 months on from the beginning of COVID-19: What have we learned for the future provision of transport services?

Author

Listed:
  • Hensher, David A.
  • Beck, Matthew J.
  • Balbontin, Camila

Abstract

COVID-19 has delivered an unintended positive consequence through working from home (WFH). While it may be some time until we are able to indicate, with some confidence, the impact that WFH will have on traffic congestion and crowding on public transport, there is a sense already that it is a game changer, and indeed is one of the most effective policy levers that the transport sector has had for many years in ‘managing’ the performance of the transport network. This paper draws on multiple ways of survey data that have been collected since March 2020 when the pandemic first resulted in severe restrictions in Australia. We present the evidence up to December 2021 on the incidence of WFH in two geographical jurisdiction – the Greater Sydney Metropolitan Area (GSMA) and South-East Queensland (SEQ) - and how it has been received by employees and employers from the height of restrictions up to a period when restrictions were relaxed, followed by further lockdowns throughout Australia. We show what this might mean for work productivity, lifestyle, and the changing preferences for passenger modes. With a growing preference, within some occupation classes, to WFH 1–2 days a week, and a good spread through the weekdays, we discuss what this means for the way we analyse the impact of transport initiatives on the performance of the transport network with a particular emphasis on the growth in suburbanisation of transport improvements, less costly service and infrastructure improvements, and the changing role of public transport.

Suggested Citation

  • Hensher, David A. & Beck, Matthew J. & Balbontin, Camila, 2023. "Working from home 22 months on from the beginning of COVID-19: What have we learned for the future provision of transport services?," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:retrec:v:98:y:2023:i:c:s0739885923000112
    DOI: 10.1016/j.retrec.2023.101271
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0739885923000112
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.retrec.2023.101271?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. Barrero, Jose Maria & Bloom, Nick & Davis, Steven J., 2020. "Why Working From Home Will Stick," SocArXiv wfdbe, Center for Open Science.
    2. Arjun Ramani & Nicholas Bloom, 2021. "The Donut Effect of Covid-19 on Cities," NBER Working Papers 28876, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Beck, Matthew J. & Hensher, David A., 2020. "Insights into the impact of COVID-19 on household travel and activities in Australia – The early days of easing restrictions," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 95-119.
    4. Elias, Wafa & Zatmeh-Kanj, Sunbola, 2021. "Extent to which COVID-19 will affect future use of the train in Israel," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 215-224.
    5. Balbontin, Camila & Hensher, David A. & Beck, Matthew J. & Giesen, Ricardo & Basnak, Paul & Vallejo-Borda, Jose Agustin & Venter, Christoffel, 2021. "Impact of COVID-19 on the number of days working from home and commuting travel: A cross-cultural comparison between Australia, South America and South Africa," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    6. Stanley, John K. & Hensher, David A. & Stanley, Janet R., 2022. "Place-based disadvantage, social exclusion and the value of mobility," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 101-113.
    7. Choo, Sangho & Mokhtarian, Patricia L., 2007. "Telecommunications and travel demand and supply: Aggregate structural equation models for the US," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 4-18, January.
    8. Delventhal, Matthew J. & Kwon, Eunjee & Parkhomenko, Andrii, 2022. "JUE Insight: How do cities change when we work from home?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    9. Beck, Matthew J. & Hensher, David A. & Wei, Edward, 2020. "Slowly coming out of COVID-19 restrictions in Australia: Implications for working from home and commuting trips by car and public transport," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    10. Stanley, John K. & Hensher, David A. & Stanley, Janet R. & Vella-Brodrick, Dianne, 2021. "Valuing changes in wellbeing and its relevance for transport policy," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 16-27.
    11. Greene,William H. & Hensher,David A., 2010. "Modeling Ordered Choices," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521142373.
    12. Greene,William H. & Hensher,David A., 2010. "Modeling Ordered Choices," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521194204.
    13. Dong, Hongming & Ma, Shoufeng & Jia, Ning & Tian, Junfang, 2021. "Understanding public transport satisfaction in post COVID-19 pandemic," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 81-88.
    14. Hensher, David A. & Beck, Matthew J. & Wei, Edward, 2021. "Working from home and its implications for strategic transport modelling based on the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 64-78.
    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. Balbontin, Camila & Hensher, David A. & Beck, Matthew J., 2022. "Advanced modelling of commuter choice model and work from home during COVID-19 restrictions in Australia," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    2. Hensher, David A. & Beck, Matthew J., 2023. "Exploring how worthwhile the things that you do in life are during COVID-19 and links to well-being and working from home," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    3. Balbontin, Camila & Hensher, David A. & Beck, Matthew J. & Giesen, Ricardo & Basnak, Paul & Vallejo-Borda, Jose Agustin & Venter, Christoffel, 2021. "Impact of COVID-19 on the number of days working from home and commuting travel: A cross-cultural comparison between Australia, South America and South Africa," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    4. Kogus, Ayelet & Brůhová Foltýnová, Hana & Gal-Tzur, Ayelet & Shiftan, Yuval & Vejchodská, Eliška & Shiftan, Yoram, 2022. "Will COVID-19 accelerate telecommuting? A cross-country evaluation for Israel and Czechia," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 291-309.
    5. Vallejo-Borda, Jose Agustin & Giesen, Ricardo & Basnak, Paul & Reyes, José P. & Mella Lira, Beatriz & Beck, Matthew J. & Hensher, David A. & Ortúzar, Juan de Dios, 2022. "Characterising public transport shifting to active and private modes in South American capitals during the COVID-19 pandemic," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 186-205.
    6. Malik, Khyati & Kim, Sowon & Cultice, Brian J., 2023. "The Impact of Remote Work on Green Space Values in Regional Housing Markets," 2023 Annual Meeting, July 23-25, Washington D.C. 335486, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    7. 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.
    8. Stefaniec, Agnieszka & Brazil, William & Whitney, Warren & Caulfield, Brian, 2022. "Desire to work from home: Results of an Irish study," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    9. Schulz, Rainer & Watson, Verity & Wersing, Martin, 2023. "Teleworking and housing demand," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    10. Riccardo Ceccato & Riccardo Rossi & Massimiliano Gastaldi, 2021. "Travel Demand Prediction during COVID-19 Pandemic: Educational and Working Trips at the University of Padova," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-20, June.
    11. Parkhomenko, Andrii & Delventhal, Matthew J, 2023. "Spatial Implications of Telecommuting in the United States," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt97q6c2rg, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    12. Gilles Duranton & Jessie Handbury, 2023. "COVID and Cities, Thus Far," Economic Policy Review, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, vol. 29(2), pages 6-52, October.
    13. Stanley, John K. & Hensher, David A. & Stanley, Janet R., 2022. "Place-based disadvantage, social exclusion and the value of mobility," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 101-113.
    14. Jean-Victor Alipour & Oliver Falck & Simon Krause & Carla Krolage & Sebastian Wichert, 2022. "The Future of Work and Consumption in Cities after the Pandemic: Evidence from Germany," CESifo Working Paper Series 10000, CESifo.
    15. John Stanley & Janet Stanley, 2023. "Improving Appraisal Methodology for Land Use Transport Measures to Reduce Risk of Social Exclusion," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-18, August.
    16. William H. Greene & Mark N. Harris & Rachel J. Knott & Nigel Rice, 2021. "Specification and testing of hierarchical ordered response models with anchoring vignettes," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 184(1), pages 31-64, January.
    17. Hanna Dudek & Joanna Landmesser, 2012. "Income satisfaction and relative deprivation," Statistics in Transition new series, Główny Urząd Statystyczny (Polska), vol. 13(2), pages 321-334, June.
    18. Andrew Powell & Pilar Tavella, 2012. "Capital Inflow Surges in Emerging Economies: How Worried Should LAC Be?," Research Department Publications 4782, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    19. Chappell, Henry W. & McGregor, Rob Roy, 2018. "Committee decision-making at Sweden's Riksbank," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 120-133.
    20. Charlie Tchinda & Marcus Dejardin, 2021. "Are Business Policy Measures in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic to Be Equally Valued? An Exploration According to SMEs Owners’ Business Expectations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-42, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    COVID-19; Working from home; Australian experience; Productivity; Strategic models; Public transport implications; Strategic impacts;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R41 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Transportation: Demand, Supply, and Congestion; Travel Time; Safety and Accidents; Transportation Noise
    • R48 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Government Pricing and Policy
    • R20 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - General
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:retrec:v:98:y:2023:i:c:s0739885923000112. 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/620614/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.