Local businesses in Raleigh, North Carolina, recently offered to provide their employees with commuting options to help them avoid the potential negative impact of road construction in the area.
Shifting lanes on Interstate 40 in the Fortify I-40/440 work zone in Raleigh have created significant traffic congestion for commuters.
Commuting options offered include telecommuting from home, flexible work schedules and mass-transit passes.
The local businesses providing these work solutions are Cisco Systems, IBM, GlaxoSmithKline, Quintiles, NetApp, Citrix, and Red Hat. Last year, Red Hat offered its employees the option of trading their typical parking passes for GoPasses, which allow employees to travel from home to work via buses for free.
"A number of the region’s leading companies are committed to promoting travel options to improve their employees’ quality of life – including flexible work schedules, transit passes and telework from home,” Joe Milazzo, executive director of the Regional Transportation Alliance, said.
"We saw Fortify coming and wanted to help Red Hatters who had concerns with their travel options," Paul Argiry, Red Hat's vice president and treasurer, said. "By being proactive, our hope was to help alleviate traffic concerns within the Triangle.”
“We have seen many of our employees taking advantage of these opportunities and believing in the power behind it – the smarter commuting,” Amber Stroupe, a human resources specialist with the State Employees Credit Union, said.
“Although there is no single answer on how each agency and state employee should address the challenge, there are a variety of options to consider to ensure we continue to provide the highest level of service to our citizens,” Neal Alexander, director of the Office of State Human Resources, said.