Sir, As a resident of Wandsworth who regularly commutes to central London for work I’m quite accustomed to the frustrations of over-crowded trains and delays. Fortunately, my job gives me the flexibility to work remotely or even from home on occasion. Whilst of course face-to-face interaction with colleagues is vital, a day or two a week away from the office can also have its benefits. By skipping the commute, I often get an extra couple of hours to complete my work. As a secondary benefit to my fellow Londoners, there is one less person on a busy transit system, which is coping with high levels of growth.
Despite the Mayor of London's initial scepticism over home-working, I'm grateful that my report “Home Works” on flexible working has won him over, as shown by his commitment to introduce flexible ticketing from next year. I'll now be working hard to make sure that the specific recommendations of a part-time Travelcard and a system of annual rebates for underused full-time tickets will be delivered. This would mean that people commuting into the office for three days a week will no longer have to pay for a full week's travel. Buying a 3 day Travelcard instead of a weekly one could deliver a £653* yearly saving for someone in Wandsworth. When this is introduced in 2015 it will make a world of difference to those looking to work flexibly, or to the 800k part-time workers across London.
Richard Tracey,*Although there are no costs currently for a specific 3-day Travelcard, we have estimated the cost by dividing a weekly Travelcard by 5 working days, and multiplying it by the 3 days. The savings were then calculated by multiplying both the cost of the 7-day travel card and the hypothetical 3-day Travelcard by 52 weeks, and then subtracting the difference of the two annual sums
January 31, 2014