Flexible Work, Constrained Mobility: Spatiotemporal Barriers to Teleworkers’ Daily Travel

Just as the spatial and temporal flexibility offered by telework and flextime can bring autonomy and a greater sense of control over an individual’s time–space behavior, it can also reveal hurdles that limit and modify this behavior. The objective of this research is to examine the time–space barriers that result from these work arrangements, as well as how these barriers may affect everyday mobility and its planning. The analysis draws on 13 semi‐structured interviews with Czech teleworkers who also use flexible work schedules. In doing so, this study complements the plethora of predominantly quantitative studies that deal with the impact of these work arrangements on mobility. Time barriers can be attributed to the tendency to align the flexible rhythm of teleworkers with that of colleagues or the predominantly fixed working patterns inherent in the Czech work environment. Conversely, space barriers emerge from the disadvantageous policies of certain establishments (e.g., cafés) and from the need to negotiate reasonable distances between home and potential secondary workplace. This ultimately prompts teleworkers to seek the most effective means of optimizing their time–space behavior—and while the time barriers presented mainly affect planning when, with whom, and whether their non‐work trips will take place at all, spatial barriers mainly affect the formation of work‐related travel and movement between home and alternative workplace.