Telework and the transition to lower energy use in transport: On the relevance of rebound effects

Policies to reduce congestion and energy use in transport have been rather ineffective in most countries during the last decades, partly due to rebound effects. Telework has been proposed as a promising way to reduce energy use in transport. Experiences with telework indicate that this is not as widespread as is often thought and that various rebound effects exist. A transition towards a large scale introduction of telework would involve the overcoming of various barriers by changes in the internal organization of firms, changes in the social responsibility of firms, and changes in life styles and activity patterns of workers.