American employees spend, on average, 200 hours a year commuting to work, and 3/4 of these commuters drive to work alone. Commuting alone by car is not just bad for the environment (24% of global energy-related CO2 emissions come from transportation), it’s also bad for business. Car commuters report higher levels of stress and lower job satisfaction compared to train commuters — in large part because car commuting can involve driving in traffic and navigating tense road situations.
Why It’s So Hard to Change People’s Commuting Behavior
It’ll take more than subsidizing mass transit or encouraging ride-sharing, according to new research.
December 24, 2019, Updated December 31, 2019
Summary.
Car commuters report higher levels of stress and lower job satisfaction compared to train commuters — in large part because car commuting can involve driving in traffic and navigating tense road situations. Some employers are trying to get involved and reduce car commuting. But how can organizations encourage their employees to commute differently? Researchers tried to answer this question by designing a series of experiments to “nudge” employees to change how they commute. Overall, they found these light-touch interventions failed to shift people’s commuting behavior.