Today research on why the commute should be counted as part of the working day is being presented at our Annual International Conference being held in Cardiff this week.
New research shows why the commute should be counted as part of the working day
A study conducted by Dr Juliet Jain, Dr Billy Clayton and Dr Caroline Bartle from the University of the West of England has found that commuters use free Wi-Fi provision on their journey to and from work to ‘catch up’ with work emails, paving the way for the commute to be counted as work.
The research team analysed the uptake of free Wi-Fi on two of Chiltern Railways’ major routes - London/Birmingham and London/Aylesbury - to see how commuters use free internet on their journeys. Over a 40 week period in 2016-17, Chiltern Railways incrementally increased the amount of free Wi-Fi available to its customers, and the results show that commuters made the most of this rise.
Dr Jain said: “If travel time were to count as work time, there would be many social and economic impacts, as well as implications for the rail industry. It may ease commuter pressure on peak hours and allow for more comfort and flexibility around working times.”
Trains would need to offer good working environments including tables, power and continuous connectivity if this opportunity were to be capitalised on.
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