Congestion Fees, Telecommuting and You
April 3rd, 2008 by Cali & Jody
We’ve been following the saga of New York City’s “congestion fee” plan, an $8 fee that would apply to the nearly 1 million cars that enter Manhattan everyday.
As we noted in a previous post, this kind of solution, while well-meaning, can only have a limited impact on the problem of overcrowded streets. That’s why we were very pleased to see this opinion piece in Newsday. Allowing people to come in at different times would help stagger traffic and avoid what the author calls “crush hour”.
But why not take that idea farther? The problem with flextime and other traditional alternatives to the daily grind is that they are based on management giving employees permission to act outside work norms. But as we wrote a month ago, traditional alternatives to work end up being a game of “Mother, May I?” that employees can lose at any time.
There is no reason why New Yorkers (who, last time we checked, had access to cell phones and laptops) couldn’t choose how, when and where they worked. Frankly, given how rich and complete the typical New York neighborhood is, there is no reason why people couldn’t work and live in their communities. And while it might seem silly to live in the Greatest City in the World only to work virtually, it actually makes a strange kind of sense. You’d end up taking part in the aspects of the city you enjoyed most, without giving over so much of yourself to the rat race.
Unless, that is, people like the rat race? Don’t tell us you honestly like the rat race . . . .
Cali and Jody,
could we stretch a little bit more to consider testing a distributed model. Each work center is designed with dedicated offices for area’s top employers. Work Centers are located in neighborhoods like you mention and networked with secure, high speed services using ‘virtual presence technologies. Kind of a ‘telework for the mases’ and doesn’t require the kitchen table. Sure could improve traffic flow and access to jobs.
Ooh… I like that idea. Sort of like a more mainstream version of this? http://www.the-hub.net/
I currently work 2 part-time jobs for 2 virtual companies/nonprofits, and sometimes feel like I never leave the house. Going to an anonymous coffee shop isn’t much better. I’m looking for a new job, and very reluctant to accept another virtual job, though I am looking for a somewhat flexible ROWE-like job.
Struggling shopping malls could convert vacant store fronts for these kinds of centers.
For some industries, the whole purpose of the “center” is to be able to monitor employees that are untrusted — which is unfortunate because in cases such as software development, the industry takes two steps forward — http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/apr2008/tc2008043_261385.htm — only to miss the final impediment to greatest potential for innovation.
Along these same lines, this was in Government Computer News:
“Making telework work”
http://www.gcn.com/online/vol1_no1/46064-1.html?topic=&CMP=OTC-RSS
Describes the biggest barriers to telework being ignorance and middle managers. The article has a number of choice quotes.
Esther Schindler, Struggling to Support Remote Workers? It’s Only Going to Get Worse — http://www.cio.com/article/330064
Yes, the impact of congestion pricing is indeed limited - as long as your definition of ‘limited’ is very expansive:
http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/006636.html