Principal investigator. Dr. Roger Stough, George Mason University, 703-993-2281, rstough@gmu.edu
External contact. none
Project objective. To identify a strategy for public policy towards telework in Northern Virginia that will have optimal impact on travel patterns in the region.
Project abstract. The potential of telework to remove workers from Northern Virginia highways, particularly during rush hours, is substantial. A recent study by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments estimates that 12% of the Washington area workforce, or 250,000 people, currently telework and that this figure could be trebled, to 720,000, if adequate incentives to employers were made available.
However, barriers to telework exist, including the cost of new equipment for both office and home, the need to reorganize workplace practices, and psychological resistance from some supervisors and workers. Furthermore, telework, while relieving certain types of rush-hour congestion, is likely to crate new travel patterns around telework locations. This project will examine barriers to telework, and the potential of telework to create new travel patterns. Only through an understanding of such new travel patterns can optimal policies for promoting telework be developed. The project will focus on organizational culture, behavioral effects, and substitution effects.
Task. Policy paper examining the above issues.
Milestones. An initial policy paper will be completed by Dec. 31, 2000, and a follow-up paper by June 30, 2001. It is possible that, based on the findings of the paper, additional research on this topic will be proposed.
Student involvement. Two full-effort GRAs will be involved through the project.
Budget. $372.500
Relationship to other research projects. No immediate relationship.
Technology transfer. Publication in professional journals.
Potential benefits. Telework holds enormous promise to redirect commute travel in heavily congested Northern Virginia. At the same time, it is not obvious that overall travel will be diminished. What this study will try to do is point the direction towards achieving the potential of telework.
TRB keywords. ITS, telework