This paper presents the preliminary results of a recent nationwide survey that focuses on mode choice behavior in view of emerging mobility options such as ride-sourcing and automated vehicles (AV). The survey provides a comprehensive scan of current mode choice patterns and the influencing factors. Then it presents stated preference (SP) choices to understand how travelers measure the trade-offs among different mode alternatives. The choice experiments focused on four potential user markets: drivers who usually drive for daily activities, passengers who depend on other household members or friends, transit users or users who do not have access to a private vehicle on a regular basis, and visitors or who do not have access to a private vehicle occasionally. The results suggest that on-demand services incorporating AV technologies (with lower operating costs) may become a viable option for many travelers. Most drivers and passengers preferred single ride than shared ride regardless of whether it is on a daily or occasional basis. However, for transit users, shared rides showed higher potential than exclusive services, which may indicate that cost is a primary consideration in the mode choice decisions for these users.

This paper presents a multistage approach to the examination of telecommuting behavior to establish a better framework for prediction of the likelihood and frequency of telecommuting. The approach took into account three main aspects of telecommuting behavior: (a) telecommuting choice, which considered whether the respondents telecommuted on a regular basis; (b) telecommuting frequency, which measured the intensity of telecommuting on the basis of the number of hours that respondents telecommuted weekly; and (c) telecommuting engagement, which focused on individuals’ daily behavior. The hypothesis was that decisions on telecommuting frequency were made as part of the household mobility arrangement beyond the daily choice framework and that once the frequency was known, the choice to engage in telecommuting could be estimated with greater accuracy. A general framework was developed to reflect the various telecommuting arrangements. Cluster analysis was applied to the data to identify proper frequency categories. Probit models were developed to estimate individuals’ choices at the three stages. The model also considered the actual behavior of nonregular telecommuters on a random day. This paper contributes to the literature by not only providing a comprehensive analysis of the factors contributing to telecommuting choices at various stages but also exploring the relationships between telecommuting frequency as a lifestyle arrangement and engagement in telecommuting as a short-term daily choice.

This paper presents a study in capturing the impacts of the mandatory pandemic-induced telework practice on workers’ perceptions of the benefits, challenges, and difficulties associated with telecommuting and how those might influence their preference for telework in the future. Data was collected through an online survey conducted in South Florida in May 2020. Survey data showed that telework indices (either measured through actual behavior or stated preference) before, during, and after the pandemic were heterogeneous across socio-economic, demographic, and attitudinal segments. Before the outbreak, males, full-time students, those with PhD degrees, and high-income people showed higher percentages of involvement in jobs with a telework option. They also had higher pro-technology, pro-online education, workaholic, and pro-telework attitudes. During the pandemic, professional/managerial/technical jobs as well as jobs with lower physical-proximity measures showed the highest telework frequency. In view of future telework preferences, our analysis showed that those who were more pro-telework, pro-technology, and showed less dislike of telework dislike preferred higher telework frequency. A structural equation model was developed to assess the impacts of different predictors on telework behavior before the pandemic and preferences after the pandemic. While telework frequency before the pandemic was highly affected by the pro-telework attitude, the after-pandemic preferences were influenced by several other attitudes such as dislike telework, enjoy interaction, workaholic, as well as productivity factors. This might confirm the assumption that the mandatory practice through the pandemic has provided employees more experiences with work-from-home arrangements, which could reshape decisions and expectations around telework adoption in the future.