Hi Isa, thanks for your response!

I think it will depend on the company and what flexibility they offer their employees to work remotely. Covid19 might have sped this up — my employer used to have a fairly strict 9 to 5, Monday to Friday office attendance policy, but since the lockdown has eased here, we’ve been given a lot more flexibility to work from home and shift work earlier or later as suits.

But I understand that competitive pressure in the jobs market might end up eating into the new-found time in people’s day. There would also be an inequality between people who can work remotely and those who have a physical component to their work. E.g. an I.T. worker could leave for the office later and start working during their commute, but a nurse might not be able to.

Interestingly, according to this data, the U.S. and Australia are among the few countries for whom working hours have slightly increased since 1950. Americans and Aussies now working longer hours than many other Western countries, whereas after the Second World War it was the opposite.

Obesity and general health will be an interesting one. On the one hand as you say, the convenience would encourage a more sedentary lifestyle. But at the same time, if people are able to leave for the office later and set off home earlier, there might be more time in the mornings and evenings for recreation / exercise. I suppose it also depends on how often people will choose to “drive” whereas they would have previously cycled or walked. In Australia and the U.S. many people drive everywhere anyway, so I doubt it would change much.

I absolutely agree that we should use this as an opportunity to reclaim space in our cities. Car has been king for too long! One of my main concerns is that many of the leading autonomous vehicle companies are developing their vehicles in the US, where cycling (and walking) isn’t always as common as in other parts of the world. This means it might be longer before they can drive safely around bikes (especially as they are harder to detect and move more unpredictably than other vehicles). Hopefully, with intelligent city planning and regulation we can avoid forcing cyclists off the streets and use it as an opportunity to make our cities more people-centric, rather than car-centric.

P.S. I think you might enjoy The Life Sized City YouTube Channel by Mikael Colville-Andersen. Lots of interesting stuff on using urban planning to promote cycling and walking as a means to make our cities greener and more livable.