The study tracked 21,000 full-time employees in Sweden aged between 18 and 65, comparing their health and asking about their method of commuting and sleep and stress levels, as well as tracking how many days they missed work. The results indicate that taking a car, train or bus to the office is likely to negatively impact your health.

“Generally car and public transport users suffered more everyday stress, poorer sleep quality, exhaustion and, on a seven point scale, felt that they struggled with their health compared to the active commuters,” like cyclists, said Researcher Erik Hansson. The longer the commute, the worse the effects.

ABC News spoke to Dr. Redford Williams, professor of medicine at Duke University about the findings. He argued that while sitting in your car is not an inherently healthy activity, the actual problem with commuting may be as much the lack of control we have over the experience as the hours of inactivity:

We know that people who have a lot of demands and very little control over how they meet those demands are at a higher risk for negative health effects. And when you’re relying on a train to get to work, it’s totally out of your control most of the time.

This is entirely in line with existing science we’ve covered previously on WWD, which shows lack of autonomy is linked to higher stress, which, in turn, correlates with worse health. Flexible and self-directed, new ways of working that are web enabled and location independent, boost autonomy and so should also boost health.

And if you’re still on the fence about approaching your boss about ditching your commute, the grim math about how much your commute is daily journey is costing you might spur your courage and get you into her office.

At Net:Work, we’ll explore the benefits — and challenges — of an increasingly mobile workforce. The event will be held in San Francisco on Dec. 8.

Image courtesy of Flickr user Ben Woosley.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• The Future of Work Platforms: An Overview
• The Future of Workplaces
• Infrastructure Q3: OpenStack and flash step into the spotlight

The SWC has been conceived as an experiment in using computing technology to address climate change, reducing travel costs and carbon footprints by providing workers with the ability to work remotely away from the City. Cisco, driven by its commitments to the Clinton Global Initiative has also taken the opportunity to introduce some of its leading edge conferencing and collaboration technologies in the SWC.

Designed for individual workers or collaborative groups, the SWC not only offers meeting rooms and deskspace, but lounge areas, childcare, catering, some financial services and is apparently located close to public transport amenities. Currently, the residents include city employees themselves, but the hope is to broaden this group to include local businesses and freelancers.

Here’s a quick video excerpt from a piece on the launch of the SWC…

Amsterdam’s city administration is planning the launch of several more SWCs around the city, over the coming months – each with a different industrial partner – and is looking to experiment in collaborating with countries like India to understand whether this style of working can suit global collaboration.

The SWC is a departure from the coworking culture that we’ve been covering of late at WWD, but as we’ve speculated about the possibility of coworking spaces as a means to address commuting issues, a vehicle for civic regeneration and even childcare solutions, it’s gratifying to see public-private collaborations, such as the SWC, that address each of these areas in an attempt to experiment with new modes of working and living.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• The Future of Work Platforms: An Overview
• A 2011 Green IT Forecast
• A 2011 Connected Consumer Forecast

The writer argues that though technology and infrastructure has long been available, only now are the economic and commercial drivers unfolding that’s making teleworking an attractive default position for many employers, not just employees.

Here’s a few key items from the piece…

• the writer would spent over an hour each day during the 70s commuting to a place of employment; he estimates that telecommuting from the mid-80s onwards has reduced his carbon footprint by over 60 tonnes.
• Gartner Dataquest estimates that 25% of US employees worked from home, at least once a week in 2007. European levels seems to be comparatively higher.
• Another study estimates that 33m Americans are employed in roles sutable for telecommuting; removing these commuters from daily travels could drive down oil imports by 25% and reduce carbon emissions dramatically….with the added benefit of increased productivity and perhaps even vacation time.
• Employers are beginning to understand that increased agility, reduced costs and enhanced business continuity can flow from encouraging telecommuting, actually strengthening a business’ competitiveness and resilience whilst removing large capital and operational costs from the bottom line.
• Studies of remote workers at American Express and BT show that they can be 30-40% more productive.
• A separate study concludes that remote workers can suffer from career stagnation and isolation, but ironically suggests that richer, ambient and persistent communication channels are the solution.

There seems to be a perfect storm brewing – of technological innovation, improved competitiveness, soaring fuel costs and a desire to tackle climate change – that might push telecommuting and remote working into the default pattern of work for most employers.

As the commercial and technological environment matures, perhaps the focus for telcommuting now needs to explore the neccessary cultural, social and civic infrastructure neccessary to take advantage of this perfect storm…

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Why iPad 2 Will Lead Consumers Into the Post-PC Era
• The Near-Term Evolution of Social Commerce
• Content Farms: The Players, The Benefits, The Risks

Following the success of London’s congestion charge, launched in 2003, other UK cities such as Leeds, Cardiff, Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol have begun to explore similar schemes. The UK government approved a congestion charging programme for Manchester – the country’s defacto second city – which would charge inbound morning commuters the equivalent of $4-6 and outbound evening commuters around $2. I guess that’s around a gallon of fuel each day by US standards!

The rising cost of fuel globally coupled with the UK’s antiquated public transport infrastructure could mean that the vibrant urban core of Manchester – undergoing somewhat of a renaissance – could begin to diffuse as commuters opt to exercise their option to work-from-home.

But this isn’t a bad thing for Manchester – the city has a great infrastructure, a large media industry (including Google UK’s second office and BBC’s New Media arm) and is becoming an emerging hub for the digital industries.

However, there’s a signal here that civic planners, creative/ digital employers and local government need to think more creatively about urban design. Web Workers can be at the leading edge of such a debate, already adopting to new realities such as remote tools, social media and coworking as replacements and alternatives for traditional commuting and office life.

Can we see traditional centralized employers diffusing across large metropolitan area? After all, kids don’t all go to a central ‘school district’ or doctors to a ‘healthcare district’, why do we expect large and small corporations to behave this way?

It’s not difficult to envisage a city such as Manchester populated by hundreds of coworking spaces with large employers such as the BBC, Google and others sharing these spaces, integrating schools, childcare and public transport hubs…oh wait, that’s suburbia!

Seriously, there’s a role for the readers of this blog to play in shaping the urban future of the cities we live in as sustainable living becomes increasingly important to urban life. How can this community start shaping this debate and bring its experiences to the table for other sectors?

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Why iPad 2 Will Lead Consumers Into the Post-PC Era
• The Near-Term Evolution of Social Commerce
• Content Farms: The Players, The Benefits, The Risks