Adoption of Telecommuting and Changes in Travel Behavior in Southern California During the COVID-19 Pandemic

One of the major impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on society has been the massive adoption of telecommuting, and its related changes in travel choices. Using data collected in the greater Los Angeles region in the Fall 2020, this chapter examines the topic through the analysis of the changes in travel behavior among workers who adopted telecommuting in some capacity versus workers who did not telecommute during the pandemic. We analyze data from a cross-sectional survey conducted among 4,045 local residents to examine key sociodemographic characteristics of these two groups and their changes in travel behavior. We observe some major demographic differences between the telecommuting and non-telecommuting respondent groups, with non-telecommuters more likely to be non-white, younger, and with lower household income than telecommuters. At the time of the data collection, all groups reported lower average trip frequency across all travel modes and trip purposes, and reduced vehicle-miles traveled (VMT) as well. However, we observed high average monthly frequency of use of private vehicles and active travel modes for non-commute travel, in some cases indicating an increase from the previous year during the same period, as travelers avoided shared modes of travel during the pandemic.