Institute of Transportation, MOTC

　　It is well recognized that transportation demand is a derived demand. The possible substitution of transportation by telecommunications has also been advocated as a potential strategy of the transportation demand management. Specifically, approaches, such as telecommuting, teleshopping, teleconferencing, telemedicine, and the electronic data interchange are assumed to have influences on transportation planning and urban planning. The purpose of this study is to investigate the interactions between telecommunications and transportation, and to model the employee telecommuting adoption behavior.

　　In the report, substitution, enhancement, and complementarity are employed to categorize the interactions between telecommunications and transportation. Six factors are also proposed to have a bearing on telecommunications applications: technology, policies, activities, culture, transportation system performance, and the physical environment. Additionally, the impacts of telecommunications applications on transportation planning and urban planning are investigated from individual, household, industry, and society perspectives. Finally, according to the model developed in the research, four groups of factors are found to influence the employee’s preferences toward telecommuting: personal and household attributes, commuting attributes, job characteristics, and the economic implications of telecommuting projects.