Impact of information and communications technology on transport(26)

交通展望

626D. Banister and D. Stead

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longer than journeys for other purposes. For example, in the UK, the averagedistance for a journey to work has increased from 11.5 to 13.4km (from 1991 to2001). Data on the relative lengths of commuting journeys for teleworkers andother workers are difficult to obtain, but figures quoted in Sloman (2003, quotingMitchell et al., 1994) suggest that teleworkers commute 33.6km as compared withan average figure for commuting car journey lengths of 24km. In the USA (1995),teleworkers commuted 25.6km as compared with 20.5km for non-teleworkers(Tayyaran and Khan, 2003).

This net reduction in total travel has direct benefits for home workers in termsof saved time and indirect benefits for other workers as roads and publictransport are less crowded. Interestingly (see Information Box 7), there seems tobe a relationship between the average commute time and the proportion ofworkers teleworking. The main gain is the increase in flexibility, that in turnresults in a greater potential for the reorganization of output processes andbusinesses. There is a new interdependence between global and local working asfirms disperse their activities and as autonomous market-orientated businessunits locate in areas closest to their customers (Reichwald, 2002).

The same types of links can be found in teleservices where routine functionsand maintenance can be carried out online or through self-diagnostics, resultingin less travel. More challenging is the opportunity to design products forindividual users (e.g. newspapers) where the appropriate mix is made accordingto their requirements and printed on demand. In a more basic version, similarfacilities are available for banking, chemists and shopping (see above).

e-Meetings are another dimension of the conflict between face-to-face and remotecontact. Video-conferencing allows visual contact as well as spoken contact, butthe need to get a ‘feel’ for the meeting suggests that face-to-face contact is stillvery important. This means that some substitution may take place, but keymeetings need face-to-face contact and this in turn may result in longer traveldistances. However, routine information can be easily transferred without theneed for contact, and this can save on movement, both physical travel andtraditional mail (e-information).

In conclusion, there is substantial potential for substitution of travel to work forhome working, but that potential has not been fully realized. The increasedflexibility has resulted in many self-employed and other workers spending moretime working from home, typically 1–2 days a week. The social dimensions of realcontact with colleagues are important, and this is also reflected in the need forface-to-face meetings. New dispersed patterns of work may develop as peoplecontinue to live further from their workplace and as firms also disperse theiractivities (internationally and locally). The net result will be fewer journeys towork, but each journey is likely to be longer. Again, much of the evidence islimited, and there needs to be a more systematic collection of standardinformation across Europe, both at key points in time and over time. Longitudinaldata allow the new complexity and flexibility to be identified, and they permitactual changes as well as net changes to be recorded.Conclusions: Unresolved Questions

In the new world of high technology, society might only be just beginning tounderstand the tremendous potential that it has to offer. Much of the evidence

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