In previous posts, I had talked about how Governor Kaine of the Commonwealth of Virginia requested us to Telework on August 3rd. In the beginning of September the results came in for that effort:
Governor Kaine announced that Virginia teleworkers saved around $113,000.00, avoided driving 140,000 miles and removed 75.89 tons of pollutants from the air that day.
August 3rd was the second day I teleworked. My first day teleworking was a much different experience. It had nothing to do with a pledge and everything to do with ICE.
Having grown up in Minnesota the last thing I ever thought I would hear was how I could stay home and telework because of the weather. Too much snow - shovel! Too much ice - more salt! Too cold - no such thing, plug in your car or take the bus; they were like the schools - always open for business.
But it brings up a good point. It's always good to have a backup. I take the train every day. Driving could be an option but I loathe traffic and find the less I drive the worse I am at it. Most people should be happy I'm not driving much these days. So what happens if my primary way to get to work is no longer an option? Unfortunately, many people riding Metro's Red Line were recently faced with that reality. Some people were able to utilize a flexible scheduling option at work and either come in earlier or leave later to alleviate some of the delay. I wonder how many of those individuals asked if they could telework while the system got back to some sort of normalcy.
If I can't take Metro in, I know what my bike route is. In fact, I'm getting ready to run it "live" to the office. My bike is currently at the local bike shop getting fenders installed to make sure I don't come into the office with the infamous rooster tail. And If I can't ride my bike in, I know my Metro bus routes.
So those are my options. Whatever your situation, you should know what your options are too - you can easily start by checking out CommuterPage. After all, if the way you usually get to work stops working, it doesn't mean you have to.
Wendy Duren is a Business Development Manager at Arlington Transportation Partners, and commutes with Metrorail daily.
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