University of California Transportation Center

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.