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A little ingenuity would keep workers off busy highways

Back in the 1960s, our street was the equivalent of an Olympic-sized ice rink.

Back in the 1960s, our street was the equivalent of an Olympic-sized ice rink. There were only a handful of cars parked on the road so maneuvering the tennis ball from wing to wing through the neutral zone was a piece of cake during epic street hockey matches.

As the years went on, the "ice surface" shrunk and the calls for approaching "CAR(s)" increased. The times they were a changin! Soon residents' cars denied the opportunity to give a curb bounce pass to yourself and the game began to lose its appeal on my block.

In consideration of our playing space, I recall my dad parked our family vehicle, a '64 Volkswagen Beetle, at the top of the street so we could have room to play our asphalt sports in front of our homes.

That was our only car for a family of five back then, and I have vivid memories of my brothers and I squashed in the back on trips to Whistler and the Sunshine Coast. Eventually the VW was sold as we were of good fortune to inherit a '62 Chevy Belair from "long gone Uncle John" as my dad called him.

Family road trips were now conducted in luxury. You could stand up in the back and engage in a fist fight with any of your siblings in this beast. Still, it was the only family car for many years, even when there were three of us that needed cars.

Since 1969, the number of vehicles per home has increased by 66 per cent.

I think we all understand that using cars less is intrinsically a good thing. So how is it that we continue to pour billions in to highway infrastructure? Don't get me wrong, I love the new South Fraser Perimeter Road and the convenience it affords me on what are for the most part single-occupancy trips. All you have to do is turn your head to notice the HOV lane is not as busy at it should be.

So what's going to be game changer to get people out of their cars to get to work?

In our region, improved transit is the most obvious answer but I think there are more options for forward thinking businesses and innovative governments.

We have all heard of flextime and telecommuting and some of us may be enjoying the benefits this flexibility affords.

In a study by BMO last year, it was noted that B.C. ranked second in the country behind Alberta with 26 per cent of businesses in our province offering some form of a telecommuting option. Nationally, 65 per cent of businesses reported that it had a positive impact and 58 per cent said it improved work quality.

As mobile connectivity, network infrastructure and bandwidth continue to grow, and innovations in software applications increase, an opportunity may present itself for governments to provide incentives to business to offer flex and telecommuting opportunities to workers who may not have had the chance to work from home before.

In this scenario, there may be a time in the not so distant future where we will see a decline in the number of automobiles and the number of single-occupant car trips. You can only hope.