The possibility of the reduction of travel needs by telecommunications was suggested as early as the late 1870s, with speculations on the telephone's ability to replace face-to-face meetings. These ideas reappeared in the 1960s and 1970s with the spread of computer technology, yet roads are more congested than ever in today's age of personal computers, fax and videoconferencing. The author is now more sceptical about the prospects for telecommuting than 15 years ago, and estimates that only about 16% of the whole US workforce can even consider telecommuting - for various reasons, probably no more than 2% telecommutes on any given day. The long-term effects of telecommuting are not well understood, and even extensive telecommuting might be accompanied by relatively little reduction in travel demand and traffic. Nevertheless. telecommuting has benefits and is worth promoting. For the covering abstract, see IRRD 896880.
Abstract