Commuting in Los Angeles - a vicious circle

Everybody hates commuting but we are going about this the wrong way if we think that wider freeways, car pool lanes and even toll roads are the solution. They just increase the number of cars on the road. Transportation experts wonder if we would pay to drive in the car pool lane of the 405. Would you pay it? How much? This is a vicious circle.

The best solution right now is to get more cars off the road. One way to do that is to expand further the excellent LADOT Commuter Express. The other way is for companies to offer employees more flex time and the opportunity to work from home one day a week. This has proven itself effective for those in finance, marketing, law, accounting and other fields. Those people I know who do it, love it, and are just as productive as ever (there’s always exceptions). It is my impression that over the last decade, companies have quietly permitted more employees to try it out and, while car pooling seems to have declined, working from home has increased significantly. Mobile devices have played a large role in this.

The time wasted on the road by Los Angeles commuters is time they will never get back. There are tons of articles about how it’s bad for your health and bad for the environment. Driving a Prius for an hour does not make you feel good or make you green. Companies who build green buildings but then expect all their employees to drive long distances are not green companies. The greenest solution is to live close to where you work and, while that’s hardly realistic in Los Angeles, working where you live is the greenest you can be and that is realistic.

Photo: Wikipedia