Search results

On February 20, 1986, the regular monthly meeting of the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) Transportation and Communications Committee was held as a two-way videoconference. Analysis of travel changes associated with the videoconference showed that vehicle miles traveled actually increased, compared to an average meeting held at the usual single location at SCAG offices. Although the average distance per person to the nearest teleconference site was 24% lower than the distance to the SCAG offices, the attendance at the teleconference was so much higher than average that total VMT was 29% higher than for a typical meeting held at SCAG.

Front Cover -- Advances in TRANSPORT POLICY AND PLANNING -- Copyright -- Contents -- Contributors -- Preface -- References -- Chapter One: The impact of COVID-19 on teleworking and commuting behavior-A literature reviewThe impact of COVID-19 on teleworking and commuting behavior-A literature review -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Research on teleworking and commuting behavior before COVID-19 -- 2.1 Factors explaining teleworking -- 2.1.1 Work situation -- 2.1.2 Individual and household characteristics -- 2.1.3 Built environment -- 2.1.4 Travel behavior -- 2.2 Impact of teleworking on commuting behavior -- 2.2.1 Impact of teleworking on the number of trips -- 2.2.2 Impact of teleworking on distance traveled -- 2.2.3 Impact of teleworking on mode choice -- 3 Research on the impact of COVID-19 on teleworking and commuting behavior -- 3.1 Data and methods -- 3.2 Changes in teleworking -- 3.3 Changes in commuting behavior -- 4 Conclusion and discussion -- Appendix -- References -- Chapter Two: Walking through the pandemic. A review of changes to and complexes of walking practices during the COVID-19 pandemicWalking through the pandemic -- 1 Introduction: Walking during the pandemic -- 2 Methodological approach: Reviewing walking practices -- 3 Review and results: Changes in walking practices and elements -- 3.1 Entanglements of walking practices -- 3.2 Elements of walking practices -- 3.2.1 Materials -- 3.2.2 Meanings -- 4 Discussion: Complexes of walking -- 4.1 Complex of walking practices and timing -- 4.2 Complex of safe walking practices -- 4.3 Complex of social walking practices -- 5 Conclusion: Promoting research and policies of walking -- References -- Chapter Three: COVID-19 and public transport response and challengesCOVID-19 and public transport response and challenges -- 1 Introduction -- 1.1 A note on the literature context.

Many people find some intrinsic value in travel itself. This leads to excess travel, which can have important (mode-specific) secondary effects. Society would benefit if individuals satisfied more of their desire for travel by choosing to walk or bike rather than drive. However, our understanding of the determinants of travel for its own sake and the role of the residential environment in shaping it is limited. Using data collected from 1,682 respondents in Northern California, this study explores environmental correlates of traveling out of the house with no particular destination in mind, controlling for attitudinal and sociodemographic factors. We found that the generation of such "undirected travel" is influenced by attitudes but residential environment characteristics also matter. Specifically, proximity to business, not living on a cul-de-sac, and aesthetic qualities encourage undirected walking/biking. We speculate that providing neighborhood-based physical activity options may lead to the substitution of walking/biking for driving.

Purpose. Test for a causal relationship between neighborhood design and physical activity within the neighborhood by controlling for self-selection. Design. Cross-sectional and quasi-longitudinal analyses of residents of selected neighborhoods. Setting. Eight Northern California neighborhoods. Subjects. Random sample of 1682 adults stratified by movers (moved within 1 year) and nonmovers (moved > 1 year ago) responding to self-administered mail surveys (24.7% response rate). Measures. Self-reported number of days in last 7 days of moderate to vigorous physical activity somewhere in the neighborhood and self-reported change in physical activity in the neighborhood from prior to moving (for movers) or from 1 year ago (for nonmovers). Analysis. Zero-inflated Poisson regression for cross-sectional analysis (n = 1497); ordered probit model for quasi-longitudinal analysis (n = 1352). Results. After we controlled for physical activity attitudes and neighborhood preferences, selected neighborhood design characteristics were associated with physical activity within the neighborhood and changes in selected neighborhood design characteristics were associated with changes in physical activity within the neighborhood. Conclusions. Both cross-sectional and quasi-longitudinal analyses provided evidence of a causal impact of neighborhood design. Improving physical activity options, aesthetic qualities, and social environment may increase physical activity. Critical limitations included self-report measures of physical activity, lack of measures of duration and intensity of neighborhood physical activity, lack of measures of total physical activity, and limited measures of preferences related to physical activity.

This study analyzes retrospective data on telecommuting engagement and residential and job location changes over a ten-year period, from 218 employees (62 current telecommuters, 35 former telecommuters, and 121 people who had never telecommuted) of six California state government agencies that had actively participated in the well-known pilot program of 1988-90. We compare estimates of the total commute person-miles traveled of telecommuters and non-telecommuters, on a quarterly basis. Key findings include: (a) One-way commute distances are higher for telecommuters than for non-telecommuters, consistent with prior empirical evidence and with expectation. (b) Average telecommuting frequency declines over time. Several explanations are proposed, but cannot be properly tested with these data. (c) The first two findings notwithstanding, the average quarterly per-capita total commute distances are generally lower for telecommuters than for non-telecommuters, indicating that they telecommute often enough to more than compensate for their longer one-way commutes. We cannot say from these results whether the ability to telecommute is itself prompting individuals to move farther away or whether telecommuting is simply more attractive to people who already live farther from work for other reasons. Even if the first case is true, however, and telecommuting is the "problem", it also appears to be the solution, i.e. enabling people to achieve a desired but more distant residential location without negative environmental impacts.

Telecommuting, which is the performance of work at home or at a center close to home using telecommunications, has attracted growing interest among planners and researchers as a strategy for reducing traveldemand. This paper investigates the potential of telecommuting as a trip reduction measure, using data obtained from a telecommuting pilot project involving State of California government employees. In this pilot project, a three-day trip diary was administered, before and after telecommuting began, to telecommuters, a control group, and driving-age household members of both groups. A sample of 219 "stayers" is analyzed in this paper. Findings include: telecommuting leads to a substantial reduction in trip generation, vehicle-miles traveled, peak period travel, car use, and freeway travel. It does not lead to an increase in non-work trips.

Telecommuting, which is performance of work at home or at a center close to home using telecommunications, has attracted growing interest among planners and researchers as a strategy for reducing travel demand. This paper investigates the potential of telecommuting as a trip reduction measure, using data obtained from a telecommuting pilot project involving State of California government employees. In this pilot project, a three-day trip diary was administered, before and after telecommuting began, to telecommuters, a control group, and driving-age household members of both groups. A sample of 219 "stayers" is analyzed in this paper. Findings include: telecommuting leads to a substantial reduction in trip generation, vehicle-miles traveled, peak period travel, car use, and freeway travel. It does not lead to an increase in non-work trips.

Travel demand models focus on explaining how much individuals actually travel but offer no insight into how much individuals think they travel. The authors propose that the latter is an important determinant of traveler behavior, and that actual mobility is refracted through a variety of filters that magnify or diminish those subjective evaluations of travel amounts. Linear regression models of subjective mobility measures provided by 1,358 San Francisco Bay Area commuters were estimated earlier; the focus of this article is on identifying the potential cognitive and affective mechanisms that influence subjective mobility upward or downward, after controlling for objective mobility. The authors find three major types of mechanisms: awareness-heightening, affective, and comparison-inducing. Recurring patterns of effects in these three categories are analyzed in the light of psychological and marketing research concepts including the availability heuristic, social comparison, relative deprivation, autobiographical memory, and motivation theory.