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. 2021 Oct:96:103188.
doi: 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2021.103188. Epub 2021 Sep 3.

Impact of COVID-19 on the number of days working from home and commuting travel: A cross-cultural comparison between Australia, South America and South Africa

Camila Balbontin  1 , David A Hensher  1 , Matthew J Beck  1 , Ricardo Giesen  2 , Paul Basnak  2 , Jose Agustin Vallejo-Borda  2 , Christoffel Venter  3
Affiliations

Impact of COVID-19 on the number of days working from home and commuting travel: A cross-cultural comparison between Australia, South America and South Africa

Camila Balbontin et al. J Transp Geogr. 2021 Oct.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we go about our daily lives in ways that are unlikely to return to the pre-COVID-19 levels. A key feature of the COVID-19 era is likely to be a rethink of the way we work and the implications on commuting activity. Working from home (WFH) has been the 'new normal' during the period of lockdown, except for essential services that require commuting. In recognition of the new normal as represented by an increasing amount of WFH, this paper develops a model to identify the incidence of WFH and what impact this could have on the number of weekly commuting trips. Using data collected in eight countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and South Africa), we developed a Poisson regression model for the number of days individuals worked from home during the pandemic. Simulated scenarios quantify the impact of the different variables on the probability of WFH by country. The findings provide a reference point as we continue to undertake similar analysis at different points through time during the pandemic and after when restrictions are effectively removed.

Keywords: Australia; COVID-19; Cross-cultural comparisons; Poisson regression; South Africa; South America; Working from home.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Impact of government regulations in response to COVID-19.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Number of days worked and WFH last week, and commuted last week and prior to COVID-19.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
WFH number of days in the future.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Available modes per country.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Commuting modal share prior to COVID-19.
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Commuting modal share last week.
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
Working from home (WFH) policy of your place of employment.
Fig. 8
Fig. 8
How productive you think you have been whilst working from home (WFH) in the last week?
Fig. 9
Fig. 9
Base scenario WFH probabilities.
Fig. 10
Fig. 10
Average number of days WFH simulated scenarios – percentage change relative to base scenario.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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