Does home-based telework reduce household total travel? A path analysis using single and two worker British households

The initial enthusiasm for home-based telework as an attractive travel demand management strategy has been countered by recent research pointing to its inductive effects on travel. This paper develops path analysis models for one-and two-worker households in Great Britain, using data from the National Travel Survey (2005-2012), to study the effects of teleworking frequency on household-level weekly trips and travel distances by mode. The results indicate that among single-worker households, higher teleworking frequencies are associated with more travel by all modes, particularly by car, while there is no significant association for two worker households. In terms of policy implications, these results do not support the expectation that home-based telework reduces travel, although the methods used do not permit us to definitively conclude that it increases travel.