Does Daily Commuting Behavior Matter to Employee Productivity? Preliminary Evidence from Australia

This study is the first of its kind to explore the relationship between commuting and employee productivity by drawing theories from multiple disciplines and empirical evidence from three Australian cities. Relying on a survey data from three major cities in Australia, this study finds that commuting distance is positively associated with absenteeism. This study also finds a positive association between active commuting (i.e., travel to work by walking or bicycling) and job performance in adults aged 35-54. The structural equation model further explored possible causal pathways from commuting to job productivity, and the results confirm that commuting mode choice could influence job performance through affecting commuting satisfaction, while commuting distance directly influences absenteeism and indirectly affects job performance via commuting satisfaction. Overall, these findings support that commuting behaviors of employees influence their workplace performance. Encouraging active commuting not only improves physical health of employees, but also enhances their job performance, contributing to economic benefits to employers.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Alternate title: Does Daily Commuting Matter to Employee Productivity? This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ADD50 Standing Committee on Environmental Justice in Transportation.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  ,    
• Authors:
  • Ma, Liang
  • Ye, Runing
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 98th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2019-1-13 to 2019-1-17
• Date: 2019

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References;
• Pagination: 6p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Absenteeism; Age groups; Commuting; Mode choice; Nonmotorized transportation; Personnel performance; Productivity; Structural equation modeling; Surveys; Travel behavior
• Geographic Terms: Australia
• Subject Areas: Economics; Highways; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01697806
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 19-02292
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Mar 1 2019 3:51PM