Commutes and Co-Workers: Complicating Individual Journeys through Workplace Relations

Abstract

The everyday mobilities involved in performing paid work have increasingly been conceptualized in relation to their social context, with transport researchers seeking to move away from a view of the commuter as a solitary figure driven by a utility-maximization rationale. To date, most research which emphasizes the social embeddedness of commutes has focused on the ways in which gender, class and race shape commuting experiences, and the role of household relations in the organization of the commute. In this paper, I contribute to this body of work by exploring the links between the commute and the social relations of the workplace. The paper draws on qualitative data collected among commuters in Sofia, Bulgaria, and includes both office workers and people employed in shift work in the tourism and hospitality sector. The findings discuss the multiple ways in which formal and informal workplace interactions become part of everyday journeys, whether through commuters arranging to travel together, through strategies for avoiding co-workers on the way to work, or through managerial measures aiming to shape commutes. Commuting experiences, in turn, are not external to the workplace but are woven through it in a range of ways, as co-workers discuss commuter stress, or set time aside to plan easier, safer or more affordable travel to work.

Preparing urban mobility for the future of work

“…Furthermore, preferences for flexible work associates are not well studied. It has been shown that social relationships developed at work can affect commuting patterns (Plyushteva, 2019), so it is likely that these relationships would also affect location choices if multiple alternatives are available.…”

Exploring the Role of the Workplace in Experiences of Commuter Stress: A Mixed-Method Study from Sofia, Bulgaria

“…A 2011 study by Abou-Zeid and Ben-Akiva examined the role of social interactions in commuter well-being, showing how comparisons with others' commutes modulate commuters' evaluation of their own experiences (Abou-Zeid and Ben-Akiva 2011). Plyushteva (2019b) has discussed how commuter stress is brought into the workplace but is also defused in it, as co-workers share stories of stressful journeys and plan for mitigating their negative effects. The present paper extends this body of research by exploring how the spatial and organisational characteristics of a workplace shape the experience of commuter stress.…”