Potential Benefits of Remote Working on Urban Mobility and Related Environmental Impacts: Results from a Case Study in Italy

Abstract

Remote working is increasingly seen as an effective model in several countries in the last decade, mainly thanks to the development of information and communication technologies in support of common daily working tasks. The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has represented a pivotal moment for the adoption of remote working in multiple sectors, with positive effects on the environmental impacts caused by the daily commuting of workers. However, due to the fact that pandemic-induced remote working has represented a major forced experiment on a global scale, and that it has often been imposed rather than chosen by employees, workers’ well-being has not always been ensured. This research work presents an analysis of a wide survey of remote workers in public administrations in four different provinces in Italy, with the aim of assessing the main characteristics of the users and the related environmental benefits. Survey data refer to remote workers before COVID-19, thus representing workers who have freely chosen to work from home for different reasons. The results of this work represent a useful tool with which to support the definition of new remote work strategies that could help policy makers reduce a part of the systematic mobility demand. We have also calculated average energy and emission savings to provide useful indicators for a preliminary estimation of the potential environmental benefits of remote working. Considering the entire sample of respondents, workers who would have commuted at least partially by car have saved on average 6 kg of CO2 per day thanks to remote working (with an average round-trip commuting distance of approximately 35 km). The current results will be supplemented by the results of a new survey underway, aimed at evaluating the differences of remote working experiences during the emergency response to COVID-19.

Examining workweek variations in computer usage patterns: An application of ergonomic monitoring software

“…In addition to the benefits for employees, remote work has environ-mental advantages. It reduces transportation fuel consumption, CO 2 emissions, and other pollutants, reducing noise pollution and saving energy and material resources [ 38 , 39 ]. A study estimated the impact of working from home on greenhouse gas emissions and associated energy costs in the residential, commercial, and transportation sectors [ 40 ].…”

Challenges and opportunities regarding the COVID-19 pandemic on urban mobility in Constanta, Romania

“…This paper examines the challenges and opportunities for urban mobility in Constanta brought about by the current pandemic and how the city is responding to these. To promote sustainability in transportation, it is necessary to achieve a decoupling between the growth of transportation and economic growth, and to achieve a modal shift that increases the use of sustainable modes of transportation (Roberto et al, 2023).…”