Work Design, Flexible Work Arrangements and Travel Behaviour: Policy Implications

Abstract

This paper examines the assumptions of work design and its impact on how work is conceived and designed, the important linkages to travel behaviour to and from work and subsequent impacts on traffic mix in urban areas. These issues have not been substantively addressed by management or government and are forming a barrier to FWA. The focus of this paper is to look at the broader framework of work design in the context of the emergence of distributed work, diffusion of communications technology, and their influence on introducing real flexibility into work and its potential impact on travel behaviour. Specifically the study investigates the extent to which place, distance and time, the limiting dimensions in travel behaviour, serve as a major barrier to flexible work design and work scheduling. Flexible work arrangements will only become a reality by developing acceptable employment policies both at government and corporate levels. The paper concludes by analysing two policy options.