Let's not forget, in this day of more & more so-called contractors, any travelling time to/from the ever changing place of duty is often not included in duty time and therefore reduces the so-called rest time. The life of the commuter is becoming more the norm.
Regarding controlled rest: These long duties for which this is seen as a solution are IMHO intended for large long-haul a/c with associated sized cockpits and the ability to design a proper crew rest area, even in the cockpit. You can stand up and stretch etc. Allowing these duties and the use of so-called controlled rest in a/c which were designed for multi-sector short-haul flights is not 'in the spirit' of the regs. But then, what's new?
Regs will always be seen as a challenge. There has to be a loop-hole somewhere. I once operated for a long-haul operation. The night before a westbound 12 hour flight I took the a/c to the maintenance base for a periodic check. The plan was then to ferry it back to home base with an early departure time, board pax and depart for the Caribbean. This 2 sector day extended the duty day beyond the limit for 2 pilots. Solution: take 3 pilots to the maintenance base and thus operate a heavy crew from the maintenance base, via home base to the Caribbean. Thus, all 3 pilots had to rise at 04.00 for a very long day. The so-called relief pilot would have been significantly better prepared for the flight if he could have joined us at home base. The regs did not allow this. The whole duty had to be heavy crew, but the regs were NEVER intended to be used in this manner. It was not 'in the spirit' even if the arithmetic was correct. Daft, but legal.
I consider the frequent use of this controlled rest to mitigate against long duty with short-haul a/c falls into the same category. If such a duty is planned then there should be a limit on what can be rostered the day before and day after. With such out & back long-haul 2 sector days you could do this for a few consecutive days as long as you stay within the 7 day limit. Is this really the intention of the authorities? The loop hole will be found. It always has been.