Most With Option to Telecommute Prefer to Drive

Americans' love affair with the automobile is costing the U.S. economy $3.9 billion a year in fuel and time equal to 470,000 jobs, according to the 2005/2006 National Technology Readiness Survey (NTRS). The annual survey -- sponsored by the Robert H. Smith School of Business' Center for Excellence in Service at the University of Maryland and technology research firm Rockbridge Associates Inc. -- found that despite 25 percent of respondents citing supportive employer telecommuting policies or jobs that would allow work from home, only 11 percent are doing so.

"With national gas prices hovering near $3 a gallon, American workers could suffer less pain at the pump if they took advantage of workplace telecommuting policies," said Roland Rust, executive director of the Center for Excellence in Service. "In addition to saving billions of dollars to the economy, the time and money saved on a long commute -- even just two days a week -- could significantly increase productivity and employee satisfaction."

The survey also finds even workers that could telecommute still would choose not to do so the majority of the time.

"It seems the professional and social environment of the workplace wins out over money and time savings," said Charles Colby, president of Rockbridge Associates. "Though a fourth of the population could be working from home, most American workers still choose the office environment for the majority of their work week."

Findings from the 2005/2006 NTRS regarding telecommuting -- working at home or outside the traditional workplace -- include:

• Only 2 percent of adults who work telecommute full time; another 9 percent telecommute part time and 8 percent have home-based businesses.
• Ninety-one percent of full- and part-time workers with a commute drive to work.
• The median commuting time reported by U.S. workers with commutes is 20 minutes each way, and the median distance is 10 miles each way.
• Of those who could feasibly telecommute, less than half would choose to do so more than two days per week and 14 percent would not telecommute at all.
• Eighty-two percent of full-time American workers have a Web connection at home, 69 percent of which are high-speed.

A summary of the study is available online.

The NTRS determined $3.9 billion could be saved if everyone with the potential to telecommute did so 1.6 days per week, based on a driving average of 20 miles per day, getting 21 miles-per-gallon at a gas price of $2.89 per gallon.

According to the Energy Information Administration, the typical commuter pays $688 a year in gasoline. Nearly 100 million adults commute to work each day, the vast majority alone in their cars. Increased telecommuting is one potential solution for a range of problems the country faces: escalating energy cost, traffic congestion and harmful carbon emissions affecting the environment.