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What government can do
National and local government are in pivotal positions
to promote telecommuting for its business benefits as
well as for traffic reduction.
Government as employer
As major employers, government bodies should lead by
example and address the following issues in relation to
their own staff:
- introduce telecommuting as a matter of urgency
- question the need to travel and the necessity of
company cars at all levels of government
- promote videoconferencing and electronic
information exchange so that meetings requiring
travel are reduced
- develop in collaboration with other public sector
organisations a national network of drop-in
centres for people wishing to work near home or
on the road, perhaps starting with their own
staff then progressing to the wider public
- introduce best practice green transport plans
which include telecommuting.
Government as policy maker
As policy makers, government should
- take telecommuting to the heart
of sustainable transport policy and promote it as an
"alternative communication option" to reduce car use,
alongside other environmentally-friendly transport modes
- ensure that Regional Development
Agencies earmark funding for high bandwidth communications, and that
infrastructure development is not solely focused on road and
rail
- incentivise telecommuting through the
tax system
- support local partnership in
developing advanced telecommunications infrastructure to support
"wired working".
Local authorities should press ahead with
traffic demand management measures which limit car access, promote
greener forms of transport and reclaim the streets for citizens. But
they should also support transport substitution as part of their package
of local measures and in green transport plans.
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| "Government
bodies should lead by example and introduce
telecommuting for their own staff." |
| "Government
should incentivise telecommuting through the tax
system." |
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