Dutch expect to work from home more, even after coronavirus crisis

Many Netherlands residents expect that the coronavirus crisis will permanently affect their commute behavior and the way they work. A quarter of those who started working from home due to the crisis expect they will continue to do so in the future, and a third think they'll hold remote meetings more often, according to a study by the Knowledge Institute for Mobility Policy, NOS reports.

About 44 percent of Netherlands residents started working from home, or started doing so more often due to the coronavirus crisis. They mostly experience this as positive. Most students and pupils now forced into distance learning, on the other hand, do not find it pleasant.

Netherlands residents are currently avoiding public transport - 88 percent prefer to take the car or bicycle when they do have to go out. But the vast majority expects to go back to the same means of transport they used before Covid-19 when the crisis is over. About 20 percent expect to walk and cycle more. And about 25 percent said they expect to fly less.

Since measures were implemented to curb the spread of Covid-19, the number of trips outside the house the average Netherlands resident makes in three days decreased from eight to 3.6. The average distance covered in three days decreased from 90 to 30 kilometers. On any given day, about half of the Dutch population now don't leave the house, compared to 20 percent before the coronavirus reached the Netherlands.