Telework and the limited impact on traffic reduction – Case study Madrid (Spain)

Abstract

Teleworking has been proposed by organizations and policymakers as a key strategy to help reduce the number of commutes and boost employee satisfaction. Since telework may be linked to a tool to reduce traffic in urban areas, this research aims to determine the impact that telework has on traffic congestion in Madrid (Spain), given a post-Covid19 context in which many organizations have implemented teleworking in the long term. This study provides evidence that teleworking has had a limited favourable impact on traffic in the city of Madrid based on the correlation between telework implementation and the traffic data collected from 7.365 traffic sensors located in Madrid that are distributed and managed by the Madrid City Council. Covid19 represents an influx point with regard to telework implementation, allowing this kind of research to interpret the answer to the question. The results of our research, through regression calculations and Pearson's correlation coefficient, show that telework in the city of Madrid does not generate a positive impact on traffic during peak times proportional to the increase of telework, as expected based on the existing literature. However, there are other elements that influence the modal choice that may affect this correlation, considering that teleworking allows people greater residence flexibility and that residence location and distance to the workplace are factors that significantly influence the modal choice of transport.