Occurrence, frequency, and duration of commuters’ work-to-home departure delay

This paper investigates commuters’ decision to delay their departure from work to home, in an effort to avoid traffic congestion. A sample of commuters, from the congested Seattle metropolitan area, is used to estimate a model of the decision to delay homeward departure as well as models of the frequency and duration of this delay. The estimation results suggest, as expected, that traffic system characteristics dominate the delay choice, with socioeconomic characteristics and the characteristics of the area near the work location (which provides activity opportunities that can be undertaken during the departure delay) playing a lesser role. The estimated magnitude of the influence that these determinants have, on the delay choice, has important implications for future departure-time-choice research.