Travel, work, and telecommunications : a view of the electronics revolution and its potential impacts.

In considering the possible impacts of information technologies and other electronics innovations on transportation, many studies have focused on substitution effects and especially on opportunities for telecommunications to replace, or dramatically reduce the length of, physical commuting to work. This paper argues that transportation will be affected in much more fundamental ways than have been considered in the substitution framework. Electronic technologies are facilitating structural changes in production and consumption, which in turn may lead to basic reorientation in the nature of work and the use and organization of time. These changes are likely to have profound economic and social effects which, while much larger than the transportation question, may necessitate rethinking the function of transportation systems.