Transportation Choices and Air Pollution Effects of Telework
Publication: Journal of Infrastructure Systems
Volume 12, Issue 2
Abstract
Telework has emerged as a possible solution to transportation-related air pollution problems. This paper analyzes, both deterministically and probabilistically, a California-based 1-day telework scenario, and explores how the mode of transportation and other parameters such as vehicle miles traveled, vehicle model, occupancy rate, telecommuting frequency, and season (heating or cooling) affect the air pollution effects of telework programs when energy consumption-related emissions due to heating, cooling, lighting, and the use of electronic and electrical equipment (in the home and company office) are accounted for. Among others, the study found that total telework-related emissions during the cooling season and , , and hydrocarbon emissions in both seasons appear to be lower than nontelework emissions for all modes of transportation (except for light rail with higher emissions and urban transit buses with roughly equal emissions in the heating season). Light rail also has higher telework and emissions. However, given the uncertainties in the data, the differences may be negligible. Urban transit buses and commuter express buses were found to be associated with more telework than nontelework emissions in both seasons. For these two modes, telework emissions are higher in the cooling and about the same in the heating season than nontelework emissions. Natural gas-powered ferries have more telework emissions than nontelework emissions. The study also found that for low-frequency telework programs energy use impacts could overturn transportation-related emission reductions independent of the mode of transportation used. Avoiding more polluting modes of transportation, increasing occupancy rates, substituting longer commutes and especially increasing telecommuting frequency could counteract these negative effects.
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Acknowledgments
E. Kitou acknowledges the support of the University of California Toxic Substances Research and Training Program in 2000–2002. A. Horvath is an AT&T Foundation Industrial Ecology Faculty Fellow. The support of AT&T and the UC Berkeley Junior Faculty Research Grant Program are also gratefully acknowledged.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Infrastructure Systems
Volume 12 • Issue 2 • June 2006
Pages: 121 - 134
Copyright
© 2006 ASCE.
History
Received: Apr 23, 2003
Accepted: Jun 7, 2005
Published online: Jun 1, 2006
Published in print: Jun 2006
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