The internet might be the most compelling reason to reform land use & transportation planning

Local agencies want to make data-based planning decisions, so by all means show them the data.

Pre-pandemic, Americans drove about an hour a day in their own car. Daily commuting trips are the hardest for mode shift, because most people don't have an option that's at least as good. No one wants to opt for the local bus if it means adding a whole bunch of time and unpredictability. No one wants to ride a bicycle if they’re trapped in the gutter pan.

---

Gallup has been reporting that the work-from-home & hybrid work is trending towards permanent:

🏠 90% of remote workers want to maintain remote work.

🏠 40% of white collar workers are still working fully remote.

🏠 76% of remote workers say their employer will allow people to work remotely going forward.

Those are commuters that drove themselves to work and back every day. It’s important to pay close attention to white collar travel behavior because their flexibility continues to increase as technology improves.

As a freelancer, I’m 100% remote. I meet people in person and I attend special events and conferences. But I’m a car owner who’s not nearly as dependent on a car as I was at the start of my career.

For local planning departments, these shifts in work habits have everything to do with infrastructure.

AAA reports on the true cost of car ownership:

💰 Minivans, SUVs cost $10,000 per year.

💰 Small, fuel-efficient sedans cost $7,000 per year.

As remote and hybrid work grows, more households will have the opportunity to save huge amounts of money on transportation. We’ll still make errands around the neighborhood, but those are short trips. (Half are less than 3 miles, and a third of car trips are only 1 mile. In other words, walk- and bike-friendly trips.)

Local governments will have the opportunity to repurpose large amounts of money in their infrastructure budgets because they have data that shows a demand for car-lite living. Counties and cities can repurpose existing right-of-way for robust bicycling and transit networks.

This isn’t just a “downtown urbanist” opportunity, it’s a green light to finally retrofit your suburbs.

Even if all 76% of those employers in the Gallup poll don’t keep their word about allowing people to work remotely, we’re in the midst of an incredible shift. We’ve got to make the most of it!

The internet is amazing. As it expands, so does the reliability of cloud computing and quality of life. You might even say technology can save us (and our environment) by liberating households from car dependency.