Abstract
Flexible working, enhanced by information and communication technologies, seems relevant for transport policy, but information about the development of flexible working in the Netherlands and the impact on mobility and congestion is incomplete. The KiM Netherlands Institute for Transport Policy Analysis devised a method to identify the development of flexible working and its impacts on mobility and congestion using an online panel survey and other data. The research findings reveal that working at home and shifting hours to avoid using cars during peak hours are the most important types of flexible working in the Netherlands and that they increased between 2000 and 2016. If there had not been flexible working, the number of car kilometers on working days in the Netherlands from 2000 to 2016 on all roads would have increased by 2.6% more than the observed development. Total public transport kilometers would have been 2% higher. The hours of delay with all types of flexible working on national roads in the Netherlands from 2000 to 2016 increased by 42%, instead of by the 60% it would have been had there not been flexible working (an impact of 18%). Working at home had the largest impact on congestion avoidance over the entire day. During peak hours, peak hour travel avoidance by car had the largest impact. Delay was reduced by approximately 0.1 h on national roads by working 1 day at home or by shifting hours from morning peak to off-peak on one occasion. This reduction was approximately 0.2 h during the afternoon peak.
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