Teleworking in some Norwegian urban areas - Motives and transport effects

Why is the level of teleworking still low when access to the relevant technology has increased so much in the past decade in the Scandinavian countries and in most other Western countries? This question is the point of departure for this paper. The paper presents results from two Norwegian studies of teleworking, one quantitative the other qualitative, showing the options and frequency of teleworking of different groups in urban areas, their motives, and the effects on transportation. Results from the quantitative study indicate that gender, income, occupation, and education all have a bearing on the decision to telework. The frequency of teleworking is related to gender, occupation, distance to work and income, and the reasons or motives for choosing to telework stated in the qualitative study fall within three categories: the character of working life, temporal aspects/life cycle, and practicalities. These motives each have different effects on transportation in terms of substitution, generation, and modification of travel patterns.