A taste of the commute-free life: Post Covid-19 remote work expectations, travel time and commute modes

The pandemic-induced experience of remote work for many office workers is changing the relationship to the workplace. Several factors can create push and pull forces on remote work expectations: return-to-work mandates, home-office feasibility and habits. Daily commuting also constitutes a friction associated with workplace presence, and work from home (WFH) desirability. We assess the relationship between mode-specific commute duration and expectation to WFH more post-pandemic. We hypothesize that workers with longer commute before Covid-19 that were able to reduce their travel during the pandemic through WFH are more likely to expect to WFH more than they did before Covid-19 once the pandemic has receded. This may vary depending on commuting mode. In the summer of 2020, we conducted a phone survey of Montréal (Canada) workers to understand the impact of Covid-19 on work organization and work locations (n=1,126). The survey included recall measures of WFH, commuting mode and commute time in February 2020, before initial lock-downs. It also included similar measures for the time of the survey and a qualitative expectation of WFH post Covid-19. The relationship between mode-specific commute duration and expectation to WFH more post-pandemic is assessed using a multinomial logit model. Ability to telework, having experienced telework, enjoyment of WFH and socio-demographic characteristics are key control variables. New adoption of WFH during the pandemic provided a quasi-experimental setting to study the impact of mode-specific commute times on WFH expectations. For auto and transit users, higher pre-pandemic travel time was associated with expecting to WFH more than pre-Covid-19. Improving commuting conditions for transit commuters may support a return to pre-pandemic mode shares for those returning to the office. Active transport commute time was not associated with expecting to WFH more, likely (especially for walkers) because of the expected enjoyment derived from active transport. • Pandemic-induced work from home (WFH) may have shifted expectations for future WFH. • Survey of 1,126 workers in summer 2020 assessed WFH, commute, and future expectations. • Longer pre-pandemic commutes linked to higher expectations to WFH more for car and transit commuters. • Active transport commuters showed no change or decrease in expectations to WFH more. • New users of WFH have increased probability of expectations to WFH more.