(Nimue)
So many people spend large chunks of their life in slow traffic trying to get to their workplace. It's stressful and miserable to be caught up in, wastes your time, pumps out pollution and CO2, costs money, wastes energy – there really isn't much to recommend it. There are a number of things we could very easily do to remove this daily source of misery and in so doing, we'd put less pressure on the planet.
Four day working weeks would mean fewer people on the road on any given day, which would help greatly. It's been established that when people work four days instead of five for the same money you get more out of them, not less, so it's nothing but win.
Let people work from home more. A lot of jobs include things that you could do in your own at home, even if that was only a day or two in a month. Letting people work from home when it suits them can be really good for their health and morale, as well as helping to reduce needless traffic.
Better public transport that doesn't cost much would greatly help. In many places in the UK, there isn't anything at all.
Better support for walking and cycling – make it easier and safer and more people would feel able to do it. Young people walking and cycling to school would benefit from the activity and the school run is another heavy traffic point in the day. There are huge benefits to be had from walking and cycling, so that's another plus.
Of course if we had universal basic income then we'd be able to eliminate some of the jobs that really serve no genuine purpose and that would likely help reduce commuter traffic, too.
Even more radically, if we considered work in terms of getting the job done rather than structuring them around hours spent/available, far fewer people would have to be anywhere by nine in the morning. We know that people in workplaces often aren't working very efficiently, and don't need to be there for the time they are contracted for. A different work culture would have a radical effect on when people travel to work, and how often they have to do it.
We could have cleaner air, more leisure time, less stress and happier lives if we weren't so attached to the idea of the nine-five job and travelling to it in person. Some jobs you absolutely need to be in situ while doing them, but many don't require that. For the people who have to travel, it would be far easier if there were fewer cars on the road, so they'd benefit too.
As is so often the way of it, we could have much nicer things. All we have to do is let go of habit, and things we think are normal, and be willing to look at what actually works and gets good results.
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