Project description

The COVID-19 deeply unsettled the US economy and how people work. For the first time, many workers did not commute to their regular workplace and instead worked remotely, if they could still work. Three years after the pronouncement of the pandemic in March 2020, the World Health Organization announced that the pandemic status of COVID-19 was rescinded. With the end of the pandemic, people’s work habit returned to a more stable arrangement. For many workers, this meant continuing to work remotely at least some of the time. The increased share of workers who appear to be able to work remotely permanently has opened opportunities for more flexible residential arrangements. Some people live and work on different sides of the country and many who only commute once or twice per week moved to locations far from their employment. These changes have repercussions on people’s commuting habits and the emissions associated with driving to work.

This report focuses on the joint effect of driving to work less often but from potentially farther away. The balance of these two factors can lead to reduced overall driving and emissions (reduction in days commuting outweigh the increase in the distance driven each day) or an increase in emissions if the increased distance more than makes up for the fewer days people drive. The ambiguity relates mostly to hybrid workers for whom commuting is still a requirement at least once a week. People working remotely full time can eliminate commuting completely. Therefore, to shed light on the aggregate effect of switching to hybrid and full-time remote work, we surveyed a representative national sample of people on their work arrangement, their move history, and the location of their home and work.