the 9-5 workday is what kills traffic

[futurefields]

who thought having 75+ % of the work force starting work at the same time is a good idea

if 1/3 of those people worked 7-3, and the other third worked 11-7 (would love this as im a night owl)

wouldnt traffic be alleviated by up to 33% at all times?

 

[chitwood]

It will never work.

A better solution would be supertrains. Or teleportation.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

Who works 9-5? Everyone I know goes in at 8 except for the part timers.

 

[Anubis]

expensive housing close to work is also a major factor

 

[lozina]

working from home

 

[Homerboy]

Right... and having workforces on non-similar schedules will be a HUGE boost to productivity.

Hint: Businesses work with other businesses to get business done.

 

[luv2liv]

i dont understand why some companies wont let people telecommute. my friends said their jobs can easily be done at home. they dont have to come to the office at all.

 

[Brovane]

Who works 9-5? Everyone I know goes in at 8 except for the part timers.

This rush hour begins around 6am and starts settling down around 10. Then starts again around 3 and lasts sometimes up to 7. Mileage can vary depending on what city you live in. Trying to stagger start times by 1-2 hours will not help much. You would need to have a schedule like 5-2 to really make a difference.

The biggest difference companies could make is being more comfortable with tele-commuting but since a lot of companines have the belief that they need to see you working.

 

[mmntech]

expensive housing close to work is also a major factor

That's the big problem here righgt now. People are having to move further and further away from the downtown to afford a place to live. Yet the transit plan is still heavily focused on Toronto proper and not the burbs. So people have to drive farther and longer in heavy traffic.

Working outside the traditional 9-5 is great though. No hassle getting in or going home. I actually agree with futurefields on this one. Telecommuting would also be a big help. Lot of office workers who spend all day on a computer could easily do their jobs from home. But then middle management wouldn't be able to justify their jobs by lording over them.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

People living away from where they work is what kills traffic. Just require all employers to build housing for their employees onsite and traffic will be a thing of the past!

 

[rudeguy]

who thought having 75+ % of the work force starting work at the same time is a good idea

if 1/3 of those people worked 7-3, and the other third worked 11-7 (would love this as im a night owl)

wouldnt traffic be alleviated by up to 33% at all times?

You are a blithering moron.

Ever think that people work at the same time because...oh...I don't know...THEY NEED TO BE WORKING AT THE SAME TIME TO GET THE JOB DONE?

 

[NoTine42]

i dont understand why some companies wont let people telecommute. my friends said their jobs can easily be done at home. they dont have to come to the office at all.

Too many managers think they can't supervise what they can't see.

And/or think too many employees will be babysitting instead of working

 

[Carson Dyle]

The workday here is nothing like a uniform 9-5. Most office jobs are 8-5, although a considerable number of people do work 9-6. Manufacturing shifts typically start at 6AM or 7AM, with construction trades having similar hours. Then you have retail and service industries, which make up a very large percentage of the workforce, with retail starting between 9AM and 11AM and many lunchtime restaurant workers starting at 10AM or 11AM.

 

[ultimatebob]

i dont understand why some companies wont let people telecommute. my friends said their jobs can easily be done at home. they dont have to come to the office at all.

Good luck getting promoted when you're just telecommuting all the time. Sadly, it's not enough to just work hard... you need your bosses to SEE you working hard.

Besides, it also doesn't work if you're the type who wants to smooze their way into middle management. Kiss ass comments seem far less sincere over the phone or e-mail than they do in person.

 

[edro]

My company won't let us shift our hours. It's 8-5 or nothing.
It's really a huge waste of time.

My old company let use do 7-4, which helped a TON. (at least 15min each way)

 

[ultimatebob]

The workday here is nothing like a uniform 9-5. Most office jobs are 8-5, although a considerable number of people do work 9-6. Manufacturing shifts typically start at 6AM or 7AM, with construction trades having similar hours. Then you have retail and service industries, which make up a very large percentage of the workforce, with retail starting between 9AM and 11AM and many lunchtime restaurant workers starting at 10AM or 11AM.

It seems "real" office hours are more like 8:30 to 5:15 in most places than 8 to 5. In most of the offices that I've been in, most people don't really show up until 8:30 if the office "opens" at 8. Likewise, it looks bad (if you're the ass kissing type who cares about such things) if you leave before your boss does. The bosses usually finish up with their meetings and leave around 5:10.

 

[Carson Dyle]

i dont understand why some companies wont let people telecommute. my friends said their jobs can easily be done at home. they dont have to come to the office at all.

Just because a job "can" be done from home doesn't mean that it's ideal, and for many functions, it's going to be far from the most productive. When you have the typical office job that could be filled by 20 waiting applicants for barely subsistence wages, why not require those slaves to be there every hour of every day?

 

[maddogchen]

you forget about the students commuting to school. I see a big drop off in traffic around spring and winter breaks.

 

[PricklyPete]

I work 7-3...but it really doesn't matter because I take the train.

 

[Printer Bandit]

meetings. can we stop having them?

 

[dave_the_nerd]

It's called "Flex Time" and people who can do it usually do.

 

[yoda5]

Good luck getting promoted when you're just telecommuting all the time. Sadly, it's not enough to just work hard... you need your bosses to SEE you working hard.

Unfortunately there's truth to this. I could do much of my work telecommuting from home but I have to play the politics game and put on a happy face for management.

For a while the local government offices worked a 4/10 schedule and I did notice some traffic alleviation on Fridays when their offices were closed.

 

[Udgnim]

5:30 to 2

no traffic

I've gotten too used to it though. regularly wake up around 5:30 to 6AM on the weekend now

 

[MiniDoom]

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that lack of new roads is what's causing more traffic. I know, i know, it's a wacky idea...

 

[z1ggy]

I don't work 9-5. I'm not part of the problem..