Traffic Tribulations
The traffic keeps making the headlines, but really, it is no 'news'. While traffic management is not optimal, it has not been in a while and the increased use, by the public, of cars has created a vicious circle: there is now so much traffic that a bus journey can never make sense because the bus gets stuck in traffic as much as any other car (bus lanes are not sufficiently continuous to guarantee that they truly are effective).
School transport is perhaps too expensive for those on the lower scales of income so they have less incentive to use it. But the less it is used, then the more traffic is created as parents barge through traffic to try to get their children to get to school on time. The more traffic there is, the longer do journeys take, driving up prices of this important service. While tax incentives are a welcome introduction, the current incentive hardly makes up for the yearly cost of using school transport since it is only an allowable deduction, not a rebate. So that's yet another vicious circle.
Then there are the 'traditional office hours' which have plagued the Western world since industrialisation - or rather, institutionalisation. This is what really makes me bristle. Some offices - both public and private sector - seem to stick, rather inflexibly, to the generally-accepted office hours (generally between 8 am and 5 or 6 pm). In many cases this is justified: customer care, meetings and contact with clientele is normally done during those internationally accepted hours. Other roles do not require such lack of flexibility, in particular where research is required, or a study is being carried out (e.g. economic, legal, scientific). Much would be saved if there could be more flexibility in the fulfilment of such roles.
More and more business is beginning to understand the benefits of employees working from home, at least a number of hours a week. It surprises me how, today, with the availability of so much technology to monitor actual hours spent working, this is not availed of more frequently. It is not only technology that can yield such evidence - the quality of the work produced, met deadlines and thoroughness of the job at hand all serve to indicate that the person is, or is not, doing their job.
Not to mention the quality of life achieved when one saves having to plough through traffic twice a day - especially when this adds nothing to your eight-hour working day. Suddenly, an eight-hour working day is expanded to ten or twelve, depending on distance travelled daily. What an utter waste of time, taken from time with family, home, hobbies and, above all, oneself!
Nevertheless, my raving, ranting and whingeing will probably not change the minds of others. So I would guess it is better to get on with my day.
Have a great weekend!
School transport is perhaps too expensive for those on the lower scales of income so they have less incentive to use it. But the less it is used, then the more traffic is created as parents barge through traffic to try to get their children to get to school on time. The more traffic there is, the longer do journeys take, driving up prices of this important service. While tax incentives are a welcome introduction, the current incentive hardly makes up for the yearly cost of using school transport since it is only an allowable deduction, not a rebate. So that's yet another vicious circle.
Then there are the 'traditional office hours' which have plagued the Western world since industrialisation - or rather, institutionalisation. This is what really makes me bristle. Some offices - both public and private sector - seem to stick, rather inflexibly, to the generally-accepted office hours (generally between 8 am and 5 or 6 pm). In many cases this is justified: customer care, meetings and contact with clientele is normally done during those internationally accepted hours. Other roles do not require such lack of flexibility, in particular where research is required, or a study is being carried out (e.g. economic, legal, scientific). Much would be saved if there could be more flexibility in the fulfilment of such roles.
More and more business is beginning to understand the benefits of employees working from home, at least a number of hours a week. It surprises me how, today, with the availability of so much technology to monitor actual hours spent working, this is not availed of more frequently. It is not only technology that can yield such evidence - the quality of the work produced, met deadlines and thoroughness of the job at hand all serve to indicate that the person is, or is not, doing their job.
Not to mention the quality of life achieved when one saves having to plough through traffic twice a day - especially when this adds nothing to your eight-hour working day. Suddenly, an eight-hour working day is expanded to ten or twelve, depending on distance travelled daily. What an utter waste of time, taken from time with family, home, hobbies and, above all, oneself!
Nevertheless, my raving, ranting and whingeing will probably not change the minds of others. So I would guess it is better to get on with my day.
Have a great weekend!
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