Traffic in Atlanta is horrible. Debilitating. Life-altering. I remember giving myself an hour to go ten miles. Surely, that would be enough time. It usually took 45 minutes in rush hour. On that day, it rained. So it took me 90 minutes to go what would have taken me 15 without traffic. It’s stressful and it’s a mess. 

The suburbs aren’t any better as surface streets become clogged by quickly-expanding and pooly planned communities, the new residents fighting to get onto one of the few highways. They inch along tens of miles of concrete towards a desk and a laptop in a tall glass building. 

Are there solutions?

Many have been suggested, even proposed. Shoulder lanes during rush hours, more MARTA buses, expanded rail service, updating traffic light timing…the list goes on and on. Politics gets in the way of our quality of life. We start looking for houses near our jobs, rather than where we’d actually like to live. Yes, it’s true and it sucks. 

And this information gets out to others – and companies in Atlanta see top talent ignore or flee this city for San Francisco, New York, Boston, Chicago, Seattle…all with better public transportation options and/or more developed city cores. 

Is there a solution? Can we fix the traffic in Atlanta and help attract the best and brightest minds to this city? Can we grow our economy by bringing in creative thinkers and problem solvers to help us with major challenges around gentrification, political corruption, public transportation, education, etc.? And in the meantime, is there a way to improve the quality of life for those of us that love this city but want more time with our families and less on the road?

I don’t believe the answer (at least not yet) is rail  – we are, at present, too much of a spread-out metro area. Rail could deliver us to a destination, but once there we still need a car. This issues extends into the far-off future. I want to be able to go 10 miles in 15 or 20 minutes, not 90 minutes during the week after work and I don’t want to wait 20 years to be able to do so.

Buses are a more immediate option as they offer more stops, but with multiple different services operating between a couple of counties, the economies of scale are not present. Changing the hearts and minds of Atlanta’s northern suburbs around public transit will take…well, I don’t know what it will take but it won’t happen quickly.

So what’s the answer? Telecommuting. I know, it’s probably not what you thought. You likely already telecommute a little bit – whether it’s a weekly set up or simply a way to be home during the week for the electrician – if your job allows for it.

Telecommuting not only puts fewer drivers on the roads, it allows companies to save money on utilites, cleaning, etc. Telecommuting benefits employees by saving them not only the stress of commuting but also the time. Quality of life improves in that way and also in that traffic isn’t as bad when going out as not everyone is on the roads at the same peak hours.

The problem is that SO many companies have been slow to adopt this. It’s silly, really – I sit in traffic to go to an office, bringing with me the laptop I just had at home. Research indicates many companies don’t trust employees to work outside the office or are unsure of how to implement such a program en masse. There are many considerations, to be sure – especially around IT and network security. And that comes at a cost.

Meanwhile, companies like Netflix exist in California and offer complete freedom – more of a “results-only” environment. And top talent goes where they are treated like adults (trusted!) and don’t have to join the rat race every day at 9am and 6pm. They can balance their life and their work – leaving at 2pm to pick up a sick child and logging back in to work once their spouse gets home. Or working at home all day to oversee a home renovation.

This is the kind of life I want. One where I am trusted and respected for the work I do, not how many hours I sit in an office. Not everyone works the same way and while more and more companies are picking up on this, I think a nudge could move it along faster and help us alleviate our traffic woes.

And what is the “nudge”? It comes in the form of a tax incentive of some kind. It would be given to companies who offer a minimum of 2 days of telecommuting for ALL employees who qualify (can do their jobs remotely). Additional incentives would be given for each additional day, up to 5 days. (I realize 5 days is not necessarily practical and that some time in the office each week would be needed in most cases.)

Of course, it’s not free. But in a city that seems to constantly use our money to invest in new THINGS (stadiums and the like), it would be great to see the city invest in its PEOPLE by working to clear up our roads.

The costs of setting up telecommuting may not be as overwhelming when compared to the cost savings from not having as many employees in the office each day along with the tax incentive. Companies may also find themselves suddenly able to offer some very compelling compensation packages, on par with what we see more frequently in Silicon Valley. And top talent could move here and live in town (or wherever they want) – even if they are working at Perimeter or in Alpharetta and not have their lives defined by gridlock.

And the rest of us? Those who can work from home would obviously see benefits, but even those who have to go to work – government workers, service industry workers, manufacutring workers, etc. would have far less traffic on the roads when they are going in to their places of employment.

It’s time for a change. And while this may not sound as big or as crazy as expanding rail lines, it’s benefits are profound for Atlantans and far-reaching. It’s less polarizing politcally – businesses can win and workers can win. How often do we have a solution that truly does both?

This is an opinion piece and contains an idea that may or may not actually work. I don’t hold a government job or know exactly how a tax incentive would be put into place. I am merely sharing a thought about how we could potentially solve or think about solving a very serious problem for our city. My purpose in sharing this idea is to get people thinking outside of the box and to be inspired.