Vehicle travel has reduced substantially across all demographics in the 2000s, but millennials or young adults born between 1985-2000 stand out as the group that has reduced vehicle travel the most. This reduction of travel among millennials is known as the millennial effect. This policy and literature review discusses insights from recent policy reports and literature regarding the millennial effect and identifies the prominent themes and gaps in knowledge. The first section reviews existing research on the millennial effect on vehicle miles traveled (VMT). The second section discusses the influence of the built environment on the travel and activities of the millennial generation. The third section highlights scenarios describing the millennial effect’s potential magnitude and identifies topics for consideration in future scenario planning efforts. The final section discusses the uncertainty that exists regarding the future behavior of millennials and their influence on vehicle miles traveled and greenhouse gas emissions.

Forced by the COVID-19 pandemic and enabled by technology improvements, telework has received a big boost over the past 15 months. In addition to reducing vehicle miles traveled (VMT), decreasing energy use, and lowering emissions of both air pollutants and of greenhouse gases, telecommuting has numerous potential co-benefits, including saving time (from commuting) and money (on gas and parking), increasing schedule flexibility, potentially improving work-life balance, and reducing stress (Gajendran and Harrison, 2007). To understand the extent to which telecommuting could increase because of the pandemic, this project will analyze a unique dataset on commuting and telework collected during a May-June 2021 random survey of Californians conducted by IPSOS. In addition, the research will quantify changes in VMT and in the resulting emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases. Quantifying recent changes in telecommuting is important to update sustainable community strategies and for understanding the likely contribution of telecommuting in meeting California’s GHG reduction targets.

The COVID-19 pandemic has generated renewed interest in how telecommuting can alter the workings of cities and regions, but there is little guidance on how to align planning practice with the new reality. Shelter-at-home policies forced businesses to rapidly develop a telework infrastructure to continue their operations to the extent possible. In the wake of the pandemic, the prevalence of telecommuting has become the new normal, although this varies across industries. New questions arise from this rapid technological adoption. How will telecommuting growth affect cities? Should planners be worried about telecommuting growth? How should planners deal with this proliferation?

This report synthesizes the research on telecommuting and its consequences to help planners better understand what effects may occur from the proliferation of telecommuting and what lessons can be drawn from research findings. Emphasis is on the broad relevance of telecommuting to many domains of planning, including housing, land use, community development, and inclusive place-making, while attention is paid to changes in travel demand, vehicle miles traveled (VMT), and greenhouse gas emissions. The research suggests that telecommuting can occur in a variety of ways, and its impacts are largely dependent not only on the type/schedule of telecommuting but on the built environment, transit accessibility, and other amenities/opportunities the location provides. The varying impacts reported in the research can be seen as an encouragement for planners to actively create a better future rather than merely responding to the rise of telecommuting. Given the breadth of telecommuting’s impacts, systematic coordination across various planning domains will be increasingly important. This report also calls for collaboration across cities to guide the ongoing transformation induced by telecommuting not in a way that leads to more residential segregation but in a way that provides more sustainable and inclusive communities.