Project description

Telework and remote services have been discussed for a long time as a potential tool for mitigating vehicle-miles-traveled (VMT) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic changed people's behaviors significantly and exacerbated the pressure on congestion and environment. Therefore, there is an urgent need to quantitatively explore the relationship between telework and reduction of VMT and GHG emissions. This research proposes an integrated activity-based dynamic simulation approach to address this need. A large-scale agent-based simulation model will be integrated with an advanced emission analysis model as a testbed to evaluate the impacts of telework and remote service policies on the reduction of VMT and GHG emissions. An optimal telework plan at the individual level will be obtained by an iterative optimization approach to support the decision-making process by Caltrans. Furthermore, broadband development and expansion strategies will be developed and evaluated as an incentive to promote the telework implementation. Other policies as incentives to telework, such as income tax credits, emission credit trading, etc. will be also evaluated, along with the broadband development, to further promote telework and contribute to the reduction of VMT and GHG emissions in the post-pandemic era.