Suggested Citation:
Nagurney, Anna, June Q. Dong, Patricia L. Mokhtarian (2003) A Space-Time Network for Telecommuting versus Commuting Decision-Making. Papers in Regional Science 82 (4), 451 - 473

In this article, we develop a theoretical framework for the study of telecommuting versus commuting decision-making over a fixed time horizon, such as a work week through the use of a space-time network to conceptualize the decision-makers’ choices over space and time. The decision-makers are multiclass and multicriteria ones and perceive the criteria of travel cost, travel time, and opportunity cost in an individual fashion. The model is a network equilibrium type and allows for the prediction of the equilibrium flows and, hence, the number of periods that members of each class of decision-makers will telecommute or commute. Qualitative properties of the equilibrium are obtained and an algorithm is given, along with convergence results, and applied to numerical examples.

Keywords: transportation and telecommunication networks, telecommuting and commuting, space-time networks, variational inequalities