Staggered hours

For decades now it has been public policy most places to reduce the demand for transport in the peak hours by pressing employers to stagger work hours. Rosella Picado of the engineering department at UC Berkeley reports (ACCESS#17 p9) an important study she conducted into why there isn’t more off-peak work travel. First she found among her sample group that two-thirds already have flexibility in their work hours. But three-quarters of these people with flexible work hours don’t take advantage of them to travel off-peak.

And the reason they give is that non-work issues – driving children to school, transporting the spouse, a desire to be with the family when it’s home, meals together, sporting, hobby and other non-work activities – all tend to make off-peak work travel undesirable for a substantial number of people. Others in Picado’s study said they simply couldn’t get up early enough to take advantage of pre-peak travel.

So employers may allow staggered hours but most employees won’t take advantage of it on a regular basis. The peak hours of travel are as much a product of non-work issues as of work issues.

Comments Picado: “Obviously, each of us is beholden to others in our lives, and our schedules must conform to theirs.” That beholdenness apparently puts a limit on spreading of peak trips into the shoulders.

She says more off-peak travel would be encouraged by longer shopping hourts and evening hours at dentists, doctors, exercise centers and other personal services. She’s optimistic that trends are in this direction so peaks may steadily spread.