Evaluation of the Puget Sound Demonstration

Dee Christensen, Michael Farley, Maureen Quaid and laurel Heifetz Washington State Energy

Introduction Program Implementation

The transportation sector accounts for 28 percent of all Twenty-five and about 250 telecommuters, energy consumption in the United States and is a major their co-workers, and are involved in the contributor to the nation's air pollution problems (U.S. Demonstration. WSEO conducted an extensive Department of Energy May 1991. State Energy Data of organizations representing a cross section of the Paget Report). Recent improvements in automotive fuel effi­ Sound economy. Each received assistance in ciency have been overwhelmed by increases in vehicle developing telecommuting policies and procedures, select­ miles travelled. According to the Federal Highway ing telecommuters, and their telecommuters and Administration, between 1960 and 1980 traffic volumes their supervisors. almost doubled, while the population grew by 26 percent. Also, traffic congestion is expected to increase by Recruitment 400 percent over the next 20 years on the interstate freeway system and over 200 percent on surface roads. Initial recruitment of potential participating organizations for the Demonstration began with the June 1989 In order to reduce energy consumption and air pollution in "Governor's Conference on Telecommuting: An Alternate the transportation sector, vehicle use and traffic congestion Route To Work.· At the conference, organization repre­ must be decreased. Transportation demand management sentatives were surveyed to determine their level of (TDM) strategies attempt to accomplish this by promoting interest in pursuing the telecommuting option within their alternatives to single-occupant vehicles such as transit, organization. This initial group of organizations provided high occupancy vehicle lanes, car and van pools, and the starting point for a concentrated recruitment effort by freeway on-ramp access control. Telecommuting is a WSEO to attract between 12 and 15 organizations for promising TDM strategy that is cost effective and reduces inclusion in the Demonstration. The list included vehicle use and emissions. Telecommuting is an approach representative samples of organizations from the various to commute trip reduction that has broad applications sectors of the economy, and was targeted at public, nation wide. private, and non-profit organizations.

Telecommuting offers potential benefits to the employees Initial contact with the organizations on the list consisted and their organizations. Organizational benefits can of a letter to the Chief Executive Officer and Human include improved performance, retention of valued Resources Manager of private sector firms and agency employees, competitive recruiting, reduced , and directors of public sector organizations. The letter was reduced space and parking costs. For the employee, tele­ signed by the Governor for a select group of organiza­ commuting can result in better quality work, reduced tions; the remainder received a letter from the Director of stress, and improved morale. WSEO. Included with the letter was an application to the Demonstration that described the goals, objectives, and The Puget Sound Telecommuting Demonstration is a requirements for participation in the Demonstration, as program administered by WSEO to explore the issues well as contacts for further information and the scheduling surrounding the use of part-time telecommuting in public of formal presentations to the management of the and private sector organizations in the Paget Sound organizations. region. The Demonstration is designed to provide empirical information on the impacts of telecommuting on Organizations requesting additional information or presen­ transportation systems, environmental conditions, and tations contacted WSEO and program staff responded energy consumption, as well as organizations, employees appropriately. To complete recruitment of an organization and their families. on average required continuous contact by phone and at

Evaluation of the Puget Sound Telecommuting Demonstration - 10.29 least two presentations to different levels of management workable telecommuting agreement that served. as the within an organization. Each recruited. organization foundation for their initial telecommuting working required. a slightly different approach and level of support arrangement. After completing training, the participants prior to committing to the Demonstration. The time from could begin telecommuting. initial contact to recruitment ranged. from several weeks to over a year. A total of 24 organizations committed. to the Research Design Demonstration. The research component of the demonstration is being Policies and Procedures conducted. by WSEO with assistance from the University of Washington, Washington State Transportation Research Each organization in the Demonstration was required. to Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the assign a telecommuting coordinator and to develop a set of University of California at Davis. Information was telecommuting policies and proced.ures for their pilot gathered. from four groups of people: telecommuters, their project. Program staff provided. sample policies and co-workers and managers, and non-participants. When proced.ures from successful telecommuting programs and feasible, comparison groups (non-participants) within large advised. organizations during the development of their organizations were used. to separate impacts of telecom­ policies and proced.ures. The policies and proced.ures were muting from outside factors operating over the course of completed. by the organization prior to the telecommuting the demonstration. training sessions and presented. during the training by the organization's telecommuting coordinator. Specific data collection methods included travel logs, surveys, focus groups, personal and telephone interviews, Selection and unobtrusive observation. Types of information collected. induded. changes in travel behavior as a result of A selection process that was developed. by a consultant to telecommuting, and attitudes and perceptions of impacts the Demonstration, JALA Associates, was used. by organi­ on job perfoffi1lll1ce, , and family zations to facilitate their selection of telecommuters. Each relationships. prospective telecommuter and their completed. a questionnaire that would indicate the possibility of One round of surveys and travel logs was administered successfully developing a working telecommuting arrange­ from October 1990 to April 1991. Comparison surveys ment. The supervisors' and telecommuters' responses were administered. one year after the first round. Travel were compared. and, if an individual was not an appropri­ logs were also administered. at the mid-point and at the ate candidate, the pair would not be recommended. for end of the demonstration, and are being analyzed for participation. The great majority of candidates were shifts in travel patterns. The surveys are being analyzed to recorru:llended for participation and final approval was evaluate changes resulting from telecommuting. Focus always the prerogative of the organization. The super­ groups, interviews, and observations are being used. to visors and telecommuters were required. to attend training enrich the statistics and provide a deeper understanding of after they were selected. the effects of changing work and travel patterns in people's lives. Focus groups were conducted. with tele­ commuters, supervisors, and co-workers. Exit interviews were conducted. with each telecommuter leaving the The training consisted of separate morning sessions for project. telecommuters and their supervisors, with a joint after­ noon session. The morning session for the telecommuters As a last step in the research process, policy analysis will focused on communication, work flow considerations, consider the regional costs and benefits of telecommuting, organiz.ation, the home office space, impacts on co­ as well as regulatory, labor, and legal issues. Based. on the workers, and completing the research material. The findings of all the research conducted., recommendations morning session for supervisors focused. on communi­ will be developed. for policy makers and organizations cation, rnanagement by results, work flow considerations, planning to implement telecommuting. organization, and the research materiaL In the joint afternoon session the telecommuter and supervisor Results compared their morning activities and completed. a work planning exercise designed. to provide scenarios of The fmal results of the Puget Sound Telecommuting potential telecommuting arrangements. A series of Demonstration will be available in September 1992. A questions and situations guided the participants to a paper will be submitted to the 1993 ACEEE Conference.

10.30 - Christensen ot a/. A guidebook for organizations implementing tele­ Articles About Telecommuting! commuting programs, Telecommuting: An Alternate Route To Work, win be available in June 1992. Traffic Congestion

Higgins, Mark. "New Law Means On-the-job Drive to cut Acknowledgements Commute." May 14, 1992. Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle, Washington. The telecommuting project is a public/private sector partnership. Core project funding comes from the Power Mokhtarian, Patricia L. "Telecommuting in the United Washington Oil Overcharge Fund. Additional funding States: Letting Our Fingers Do the Commuting." comes from the Washington State Departments of January-February 1992. TR NEWS 158, Transportation Information Services and Transportation, Northwest Area Research Board, National Research Council, Washington, Foundation, the Transportation Northwest Regional Center D.C. (TransNow), GTE Northwest, U.S. Department ofEnergy through Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. WEST Zero Population Growth. Bumper to Bumper, Coast to Communications, and the Medina Foundation. Coast. Washington, D.C. June 1989.

Evaluation of the Puget Sound Telecommuting Demonstration - 10.31