Ways of Reducing Impact on Local Traffic, Essay Example

October 27, 2009

To: The CEO, Ms. Suarez

From: xxxx

Subject: Ways of Reducing Impact on Local Traffic

Our company has 43,000 employees. It is the largest private employer in this metropolitan area. This number has not been without tremendous impact on local traffic, such that a group of city and county transportation officials approached you with a request to explore ways of reducing the impact. To reduce this impact, the first step would be to analyze the workforce’s transport habits and altitudes. However whatever consideration will be deemed the most appropriate, it must be in consideration of employees transportation needs. In my survey, I collected data in four categories; employee carpool habits, use of public transportation, effects of potential improvement to public transportation and telecommunication as an option.

Employee Carpool Habits   

Frequency use: carpooling portion of workforce

Majority of employees, (64%), do not consider carpooling as their option of transport to work though it has major benefits. This may be greatly tied to other convenient means of transport. This could be true since the survey shows, only a few employees, (23%), consider carpooling as a means that can save them on gasoline thus use it on a daily basis. However they are tied to wait for the owner of the car when leaving the work place. Therefore they cannot have an independent plan for their daily commute.

Proposed Solutions  

1. Introduce company owned shuttle buses – this will be at a fee cheaper than carpooling to woo the employee carpooling. It will go along way to reducing congestion of traffic because large numbers of employees can be ferried in one bus than a few of them in so many car pools, increasing traffic congestion during their arrival and departure from work.
2. Reduce the parking lot in the company’s premises – it will discourage car pools form parking right inside the company’s premises. I invite you to further discuss this matter with the county officials so that they also participate in reinforcing it by allowing only public buses as the only public means, riding along the company. This will reduce congestion of traffic along the company and ease transportation of other members of the society using the roads along the company.

Use of Public Transportation

Frequency use: public transportation portion of workforce

Majority of the workforce, (54%), use public means as their means of transport to work. Form the survey it seems most employees are using public means because other means are inconvenient. But there are is still a whooping 28% which has never used public transport means. Should public transport be improved then a greater majority would find it convenient to use public means after all it would be the cheaper compared to other means. This would greatly reduce traffic congestion.

Proposed Solutions

1. Extend public means destinations – extending public means to estates where the majority of employees live would allow them view public transport as a convenient means. You should encourage the county officers to allow more bus terminal in the estates as well as within the company to make the workforce use public means at their own comfort.
2. Extend public means working hours especially early in the morning and late in the night. – It will boost the convenience of public transport. This will make employees work at ease knowing that at whatever time they are needed to be at work, or leave work, they can always get means. They also improve on their trust on public means therefore will rely on it than any other means.

Effects of Potential Improvements to Public Transportation

To find out what would encourage employees to use public means, I carried out an interview among employees who use public transport randomly or never, in which my respondents were encouraged to point out areas in public transport that should be improved in order for them to feel encouraged to use public means. This group is 41% of the employees, 17,915 members. The results are represented in the figure below.

From the results it is clear a majority 46% found nothing to encourage them use public means. They prefer to be at the comfort of their own cars or other means of transport other than public means. But it is encouraging to learn than should fares be subsidized, 31% of them would prefer public transport, should there be reduced commute times to and from work, 41% would use public means and should there be perfection of safety, 28%would then use public transport.

Proposed Solutions

1. Improved services – this should include commuter times, if an employee knows they are only required to work at a certain time, in which public transport is available, then they will feel at ease to rely on public means. Therefore you see to it that an employee is not required in two different shifts in a day. His will means less commuter times hence one can rely on public means.
2. Encourage lower fares as well as improved safety – talk to the transportation officials and encourage them to reduce fares. It will allow employees to deem public means as convenient if it’s readily available and cheaper. A 28% would also use public means if they were guaranteed safety.

Telecommunication as an Option

My aim was to find out if telecommunication would be a realistic option to solve the problem of local traffic. I carried out the survey on all the 43,000 employees and the results were as below.

For the majority of employees, 43%, telecommunication is not a realistic option owing to the nature of their work. But a 30% would do with random telecommunication while a 20% would do with telecommunication on several days of the week. This would save local traffic a great deal. It should be highly encouraged.

Proposed Solutions

Organize for possible telecommunication options –  make arrangements for some employees to work from the comfort of their homes depending on the nature of their work in which some can work full- time at home or part time  while only the 43% work full time from the company. This will go a long way to ease congestion of the local traffic.

Summary

With the corporation of the employees and the support of the management of the company, the impact of the employees on the local traffic can be improved. If only public transport is improved to fit the conditions of the employees as well convenient company transport for the employees. Telecommunication option will also contribute to reducing impact on the local traffic.