§ Mr. BlizzardTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the future capacity of electronic communication to reduce transport need.[56731]
§ Ms Glenda JacksonOver 1 million people already use telecommunications to work from home for at least part of their working week, cutting the number of commuter journeys they make. Given the rate of technological progress, the number of people working in this way is expected to increase in the future.
As the Integrated White Paper stated, this Government support the use of telecommunications to reduce travel and hope that companies will actively consider the possibilities in drawing up green transport plans. The environmental benefits will generally be greatest if teleworking is targeted at people who would otherwise do significant amounts of car travel. There will also be greater benefits if reduced commuter traffic is not replaced by more car journeys from the home, as could happen if improved telecommunications encourage people to shift from urban to rural areas, prompting less sustainable travel patterns overall.