Traffic and Smog

Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley wants at least 500 city employees to work with a computer at home for one or two days a week as part of an experiment to reduce smog by keeping some cars off the road.

It is called telecommuting, and we urge the City Council to approve the experiment. It is important to know whether the theory works because the South Coast Air Quality Management District wants 20% of Southern California’s work force to be telecommuters by the year 2010. AT&T;, Pacific Bell and Allergan Pharmaceuticals in Orange County are among the private companies in Southern California that already allow employees to work at home in Southern California. Planners tell employers they can expect not only a boost toward cleaner air but also increased productivity, lower absenteeism and access to larger labor pools.

Nearly 5,600 of 49,000 city employees ranging from clerical workers to managers qualify for the pilot project. Employees may volunteer as long as supervisors approve; supervisors may have doubts about the program, but doubting supervisors, in particular, should approve, because the idea of the plan is to test whether such doubts are valid. The idea is to monitor the quality of work, cost-effectiveness and the effect of telecommuting on workers themselves. The council should go for it.