To What Extent did the COVID-19 Pandemic Affect the Relationship Between Salary Income and Travel Time to Work?

This paper seeks to answer the question: How did the COVID-19 pandemic affect the relationship between salary income and travel time to work? We expect our analysis will find that the COVID-19 pandemic caused a reversal in the relationship between commute time and salary income. This would mean that, following the pandemic, individuals with higher incomes would, on average, experience shorter commute times than individuals with lower incomes. Consistent with previous studies on the transition to remote work, our research found that the relationship between income and commute times changed following the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, we found a reversal in the relationship between working from home and annual income, with higher-income individuals being more likely to work from home in 2021 following the pandemic.