Beyond the Friction of Distance: A Systematic Review of Accessibility Measurement for Telework and Online Shopping

The diffusion of information and communication technologies, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, has decoupled many daily activities from physical proximity, yet most accessibility indicators still assume that reaching an opportunity requires physical travel. This review assesses how accessibility measurements are adapting to this hybrid reality by focusing on telework and e-shopping because these concern jobs and retail, the opportunities physical measurement traditionally targets. Following PRISMA guidelines, 23 studies (2014–2026) were identified. They show three methodological responses: an operational digital friction defined by broadband quality, digital literacy and last-mile logistics coverage; gravity, floating catchment, composite and dual-access formulations adapted to a virtual channel; and time-geographic frameworks locating the thresholds at which digital substitution becomes viable. Four gaps remain: digital access is operationalised in fragmented, non-comparable ways; no established method combines physical and digital constraints in a common metric through behaviourally estimated weights; the relationship between virtual and physical access is heterogeneous and not uniformly substitutive; and the reviewed methods have been compared only conceptually and not with common data, so how far digital provision alters measured accessibility relative to conventional indicators remains unquantified. This review argues that a utility-based Hybrid LogSum, in which the online alternative enters the choice set with its own calibrated impedance, provides a common framework for integrating physical and digital accessibility in sustainable accessibility planning.