I’ve been commuting to Los Angeles for years from Long Beach. Over time I’ve had different routes for different jobs; taking the 710 to the 5/101 up to work in Hollywood, or driving up the 110 into Downtown L.A., and my least favorite of all time … dragging up the 405 North into Santa Monica (the most hellish and mind-numbing commute). When people ask me, “when’s the best time to get around L.A. with no traffic?”, my response is, "THERE ISN'T".
I’m sure most people already know this, but traffic continues to get worse year by year. Our culture promotes driving every second of the day and our public transportation system moves at a snail’s pace (literally). Have you tried taking the Metro Blue Line from Long Beach to Downtown L.A.? It’s incredibly lethargic. And the Metro in general will not make a single dent in the amount of people driving around Los Angeles. The amount of people and the cars they own/purchase is not going to change, but I have an easy solution.
As our population increases here in L.A. businesses continue to develop and expand, and so do jobs, which means more commuters. The practical and logical approach isn’t going to be buying less cars, there’s just too many people here and not enough metro rail. But now with almost every household having wi-fi, mobile/tablet devices and knowing how to navigate through their day using every aspect of the internet, we need to look very closely at our outdated work culture transitioning permanently into a work-from-home culture. Obviously, many sectors of the workforce (the service industry, law enforcement, preschool-to-high school teachers, etc.) have to be at a specific location, but any career that requires you to communicate and conduct business via email, chats, internet-based meeting apps, etc. can be handled easily and efficiently at home, or anywhere for that matter.
Personally, there is no point in the day where I need to be in an office to take care of my projects, talk to a client, or solve a problem. I can connect with anyone at anytime using a variety of apps. Allowing people like myself to work from home 1-2 days a week would dramatically change the way our freeways look, save precious time and millions of dollars in both state and local levels (repairs, office space, resources, etc.).
Imagine talking through budgets and plans with co-workers and clients, only you can do this at your girlfriend/boyfriend's apartment, or a coffee shop, or at the hotel pool in Palm Springs. Between the inevitable lulls at work you can accomplish micro-tasks like doing dishes or laundry, plan out your weekend with family members, call a loved one, visit the dentist, step outside and say “Hi” to your neighbor, go have lunch with your daughter/son at school, go to the museum for an hour… see what I’m getting at here? Everyone’s lives will improve tremendously, and we’ll be happier and healthier because we’re accomplishing more in the same amount of time while not feeling like we always need more of it.
Here’s how it works:
If your last name ends in “A-I”, this group will work from home on Monday and Wednesday.
If your last name ends in “J-R”, this group work from home Tuesday and Thursday.
If your last name ends in “S-Z”, this group work from home on Friday.
The next week, the “A-I” group now has Tuesdays and Thursdays, the “J-R” group now has Fridays, and the “S-Z” group works from home on Mondays and Wednesdays. You just rotate days of the week. There’s no monitoring involved or rules to follow outside of the groupings. If you absolutely need to drive somewhere for work on a day that you’re group is scheduled to stay home then just do so. This is not something that needs to be put on a ballot. It’s just a simple culture shift that your company’s CEO should introduce in a meeting.
It's super easy to understand and implement. The city can create an app to track the three schedules and people’s behavior and comments - Mayor Garcetti would be all over this. I’d predict that the adoption rate in the beginning would be very heavy in the Tech/Entertainment/Advertising industries, these people can work from anywhere with a phone and laptop. And, as thousands of people begin to gloat online about how great this is and how it works for everyone involved, more business will get sucked into the amazing benefits of working from home.
It’s time.