Abstract

Thesis (PhD(Planning))--University of South Australia, 2016. Includes bibliographical references (pages 151-168) The objective of this thesis is to determine the extent to which telecommuting plays a role in reducing the academics’ physical travel needs by private vehicles (cars, motorcycles, vans). To be more specific, this thesis aims to study the possibility of reducing physical travel for academics, thus alleviating traffic congestion. Drawing upon research conducted in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia this thesis investigates the attitudes toward and practice of telework amongst a sample of academic staff at the International Islamic University Malaysia. Specifically, it investigates the physical travel demands and needs of the target population as promoted by an irregular timetable and how telecommuting work arrangements can be and/or are facilitated within this timetable.

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to provide information to determine that telecommuting in Ecuador can be used as a measure of sustainable transport. Briefly, sustainable development is described, and certain definitions and approaches related to sustainable transport are covered, for instance, the Avoid-Shift-Improve (ASI) approach, as well as the Transport Demand Management (TDM), which serve to validate from a conceptual point of view the application and usefulness of telecommuting. An overview of the current situation in the transport sector in Ecuador is analyzed; the final energy demand; the environmental aspects related to transport, and the amount of public and private employees that are telecommuting. Taking into consideration some hypothesis, such as car ownership rate, the total amount of kilometers driven per year, the assumption of the distance travelled by employees who take public transportation; the assumptions helped to determine the savings that can be obtained through telecommuting in the present time. Therefore, these results would provide adequate information for decision makers to establish a conclusive pronouncement on whether or not support telecommuting as a valid working approach, and to develop the necessary policies to maintain it over time.

Abstract

La pandèmia causada per la COVID-19 va irrompre de manera sobtada i va causar una transformació en els models d’aplicació de la comunicació interna al haver d’adaptar les seves accions a un panorama laboral que, en alguns casos, esdevindria híbrid, combinant el treball a distància amb el presencial. La literatura científica estudia àmpliament els beneficis i l’impacte de la comunicació interna en el funcionament corporatiu i en el benestar dels treballadors però es detecten pocs estudis sobre les seves aplicacions en metodologies de treball híbrides.

La necessitat de les organitzacions per arribar a tots els seus treballadors indistintament de la localització des de la qual duen a terme la seva feina és important pels beneficis que la implementació del teletreball ha aportat al mon corporatiu. Petcu et al., (2023) destaquen el teletreball com a facilitador d'una millor integració del treball a la vida personal, millorant així la seva qualitat de vida.

Un dels motius principals de la necessitat de la seva investigació recau en que el teletreball pot reduir la freqüència d'interaccions, especialment entre empleats del mateix nivell jeràrquic, i no té les comunicacions espontànies típiques de l'entorn d'oficina (Viererbl et al., 2022). I per tant, això suggereix la necessitat que les organitzacions fomentin la comunicació entre els seus professionals remots per preservar aquests elements vitals.

Abstract

The configuration of current civilization would not be conceivable without abundant and cheap transport: the dominant trends of recent decades such as the globalization of the economy, the segmentation of productive processes in distant places, the metabolism of large cities fueled by distant resources or mass tourism, would not have been possible.

During the first two decades of the 21st century, world passenger transport has grown like population (26.5%), but world freight transport has more than doubled (115% increase) to reach 53 tkm/ hab/day (tons x km per inhabitant and day). The characteristics of oil and its derivatives (gasoline, diesel, kerosene and fuel oil), with high energy densities (around 10 kWh/kg and around 8 kWh/litre), rapid recharge and artificially low costs by not including outsourcing, have led to a close correlation with transport and its growth: today 95% of transport (land, sea, air) is powered by petroleum products and 75% of oil is used for transport.

Electricity, the main renewable energy vector in the transport of the future, represents a substantial improvement in the performance of the driving elements but requires important power systems (storage in batteries, hydrogen and fuel cell, electrified catenary) that will be necessary implement to reconvert the centralized system of obtaining and distributing fossil fuels to mostly distributed systems of electric energy and hydrogen. It is necessary to rule out the obtaining of biofuels from crops, in collision with food and of very low yields, and limit them only to small amounts obtained from waste.

The transition in transport, based on renewable energy vectors and in the framework of sustainable development, will bring important changes and limitations with respect to some of the characteristics and uses we are used to today with oil, but also advantages and new possibilities. The purpose of this communication is to analyse these issues and explore the incidence of renewable transport in the current dominant trends and in the sustainable development of the future