ABSTRACT
Much of the early interest in the role of telecom-transport trade-offs focused on the potential for the displacement of work-related commutes. In 1976, Jack Nilles invented the term ‘telecommuting’ to describe home-or neighbourhood-based working using computers and telecommunications technology. There has also been interest in the trip displacement potential of other telebased activities such as teleeducation, teleshopping and telebanking. These new forms of telebased communication were seen as a solution to the problem of congested urban environments and long commutes to centralised offices. Studies evaluating the environmental potential of telecommunications usually adopted a perspective that is closely aligned to these technocentric approaches-a form of appraisal known as technological assessment (see Harkness, 1977).
