AMIT KUMAR JAIN SURBHI JAIN

The demand for travel inany urban centre is char-acterised by a wide tem-poral variation during

the day. This leads to a very high de-mand for travel in mornings andevenings — the peak hours aroundthe start and end of offi��ce hours —causing acute traffi��c congestion. Ithas been estimated that vehicles inmajor metropolitan cities accountfor 70 per cent of carbon monoxide(CO), 50 per cent of hydrocarbon(HC), 30-40 per cent of nitrogen ox-ides (NOx), 30 per cent of suspen-ded particulate matter (SPM) and 10per cent of sulphur dioxide (SO2) ofthe total pollution load of these cit-ies — two-third of this is contrib-uted by two wheelers alone.

As per a report titled UnlockingCities-the impact of ridesharing acrossIndia released by the Boston Con-sulting Group in April 2018, on anaverage, travellers in Delhi, Mum-bai, Bengaluru, and Kolkata spend1.5 hours more on their daily com-mutes than their counterparts inother Asian cities during peaktraffi��c times, which results into aloss of around $22 billion annuallyto traffi��c congestion on account ofthe fuel burned, productivity loss,air pollution and accidents.

Demand and supplyThe conventional approach to ad-dress traffi��c congestion is buildingmore roads, fl��yovers, underpassesand widening of roads to augmentthe availability of space for smoothmovement of vehicles. However,the effi��cacy of these supply-sidesolutions is limited by the existingcapacity of the system, as creationof additional capacity involveshuge capital investment and time.For instance, beyond a limit, widen-ing of the road in a densely popu-lated city would require the acquis-ition of land, which comes withadjunct social and economic costs.

Further, the additional capacity,if created, would remain underutil-ised during non-peak hours. Also,studies have found that enhance-ment in capacity further fuels the

traffi��c demand. In this context, de-mand-side measures are increas-ingly being adopted by developedcountries to address peak-hourcongestion and consequent pollu-tion. Congestion pricing, controlon number of vehicle registrations,parking regulations, fuel tax etc,are some such preferred measures.

Eff��ective compliance of, for in-stance congestion pricing, requiresdedicated and expensive infrastruc-ture (like electronic paymentgantries at entry and exit point ofdefi��ned congested areas anddevices in vehicles).

One such experiment in Indiawas the odd-even scheme in Delhiduring January 1-15, 2016 whereinprivate cars with odd registrationnumbers were allowed on theroads on odd days of the month, al-ternating with even-numbered carson even days. Reportedly, the odd-even scheme resulted in a dip of 2-3per cent in the pollution level. Al-though it helped reduce peak-period congestion, social acceptab-ility of this measure remained lowdue to inconvenience faced bypeople in absence of eff��ective al-ternatives of public transport.

Shift in work timesIt is, therefore, time to experimentwith various innovative options toaddress this problem. One low-costoption is to adopt alternate workschedules in order to scatter thepeak-hour traffi��c — in other words,the staggering of work hours. Un-der such a staggered work-hourschedule, employees have sequen-tial or staggered start and endtimes (An example given in theTable). Studies have shown a reduc-tion of 10-15 per cent in peak-hourtraffi��c as a result of a staggeredwork schedule, depending on theeff��ectiveness of its implementa-tion. The other potential benefi��ts ofstaggered working hours are reduc-tion in commuting time, improve-ment in workers’ effi��ciency, andbetter health and well-being ofcommunity. The staggered timingsmay help in increased participa-tion of women in workforce, as theymay be more convenient.

The travel demand after imple-mentation of staggered workinghours is likely to be more spreadout, with reduction in peak de-mand. There will be better utilisa-tion of city infrastructure for alonger period without straining itbeyond its capacity during the peakperiod.

This can be further extended,once stabilised, to staggered work-ing days with diff��erent weekendsfor various establishments.

However, the experience of itsimplementation in other citiesshows the following: staggeringmay make car-pooling diffi��cult, re-duction in traffi��c congestion mayresult in travellers shifting frommass transit to private vehicles, em-ployees and employers could resista change in their schedule, and dif-fi��culty in interaction among com-panies operating at diff��erent hoursof the day. Further, the staggeringneeds to be coordinated with masstransit schedules.

The Delhi government has nowannounced that it will complement

its odd-even scheme, to be imple-mented from November 4 to 15,2019, with staggered work timingsfor its offi��ces. The State’s transportdepartment has also suggestedshifting timings of Delhi govern-ment offi��ces from the existing 9:30am-6 pm shift to 11 am-7:30 pm.

It would be interesting to assessthe impact of both steps togetheron traffi��c congestion and pollution,and it could off��er important in-sights into policy-design for future.

Working fl��exibilityThe other related options to reducepeak-hour congestion are ‘fl��exiwork hours’ and the choice to ‘workfrom home’. Under the fl��exi workhour scheme, employees have theoption to choose their work sched-ules in consultation with the em-ployer. Under the ‘work from home’scheme, the employees have optionto stay home and work.

However, due to their voluntarynature, the effi��cacy of thesestrategies on peak-hour congestionis limited as compared to staggered

working hours, which are generallyforced by the city government.

The Ministry of Manpower, Gov-ernment of Singapore haslaunched an incentive scheme forcompanies adopting fl��exible workarrangements. Under the scheme,the employers off��ering fl��exi workhours are entitled to receive fi��nan-cial incentives. The scheme is foundto be popular among 15-20 per centof employees in Singapore. Morethan one-third of employees in theUS work on a fl��exi- schedule. In theUK, all employees have the legalright to request fl��exible workinghours. Surveys have shown that em-ployees opting for fl��exi hours takeless leave and are more productive.

The ‘work from home’ strategynot only curtails travel demand butalso reduces the requirement of ex-pensive offi��ce space by 15-20 percent (considering fi��ve working daysa week). The fl��exibility in workingschedule is attributed to improve-ment in well-being of the employ-ees, their productivity, level of satis-faction, as well as the attracting andretaining of talent. Research sug-gests that more than 90 per cent ofthe millennial generation (whoreached adulthood in the early 21stcentury) identify with fl��exibility asa top priority when job-hunting.

The current level of pollution incities like New Delhi warrants non-conventional solutions to easepeak-period traffi��c congestion. Theoptions to enhance capacity formeeting demand have alreadybeen utilised, and may have evenresulted in further increasing de-mand. Demand managementmeasures, therefore, have to be ex-perimented.

Staggered working hours, fl��exihours and work from homestrategies may prove to be gamechanging if adopted and imple-mented eff��ectively. The key to suc-cess would, of course, be participat-ive decisions and making traffi��cmanagement strategies inclusive.

Amit Kumar Jain is with the IndianRailways. Surbhi Jain is with theMinistry of Finance. Views arepersonal

Staggered work hours may help beat trafficChanging work schedules and introducing fl��exi-work hours are low-cost efforts that could reduce peak-hour congestion