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I’m interested in the studies that will come out using pandemic traffic data and public surveys. There’s been a dramatic shift in commuting from 3 years ago and

I’m interested in the studies that will come out using pandemic traffic data and public surveys. There’s been a dramatic shift in commuting from 3 years ago and I wonder if we’ll return to the same sort of gridlock. Some questions: If companies broadly reject work from home policies would they also reject peak shifting policies? Are workers interested in returning to offices and then working odd hours? If everyone adopts hybrid schedules does it just drop white collar commuters by 40%? If traffic stays light and downtowns are empty, which transit or highway projects are now needed or may no longer be needed?

dragonwriter 5y ago
> There’s been a dramatic shift in commuting from 3 years ago and I wonder if we’ll return to the same sort of gridlock. AFAICT, we largely have in my area. The durable changes seems to for a very narrow slice of the workforce, which I am fortunate enough to be in, but whenever I have a (non-commuting) reason to drive in normal commute hours, it already looks pretty similar to pre-pandemic, even while the process of orgs announcing rollbacks of regular telecommuting continues.
vladvasiliu 5y ago
I share your interest in these studies, and was quite hopeful to see traffic go down in my neck of the woods. Didn't happen. > If companies broadly reject work from home policies would they also reject peak shifting policies? This has actually been "recommended" by the French government after the first lockdown ended. Of course, I haven't actually measured this, but my subjective impression is that basically nobody applied this, not even in public transport. During peak hour trains were still very full, despite some employers allowing partial remote working. The issue, at least is France, is that the workday is basically 9 AM to 6 PM. Add to that an hour of commute and stores outside big cities closing around 8 PM (ie where people have long commutes), and people can't shift the work day later. They could shift it earlier, but they usually don't like getting up early, and there also seems to be, to some, some kind of stigma attached to people leaving "early".

dragonwriter 5y ago

> There’s been a dramatic shift in commuting from 3 years ago and I wonder if we’ll return to the same sort of gridlock. AFAICT, we largely have in my area. The durable changes seems to for a very narrow slice of the workforce, which I am fortunate enough to be in, but whenever I have a (non-commuting) reason to drive in normal commute hours, it already looks pretty similar to pre-pandemic, even while the process of orgs announcing rollbacks of regular telecommuting continues.

vladvasiliu 5y ago

I share your interest in these studies, and was quite hopeful to see traffic go down in my neck of the woods. Didn't happen. > If companies broadly reject work from home policies would they also reject peak shifting policies? This has actually been "recommended" by the French government after the first lockdown ended. Of course, I haven't actually measured this, but my subjective impression is that basically nobody applied this, not even in public transport. During peak hour trains were still very full, despite some employers allowing partial remote working. The issue, at least is France, is that the workday is basically 9 AM to 6 PM. Add to that an hour of commute and stores outside big cities closing around 8 PM (ie where people have long commutes), and people can't shift the work day later. They could shift it earlier, but they usually don't like getting up early, and there also seems to be, to some, some kind of stigma attached to people leaving "early".