The top priority of improving our transportation network is to reduce congestion which would improve the quality of life and make our region more attractive to top employers and professionals. Infrastructure and bus improvements short of rail will certainly assist with relieving congestion; and with continued political efforts can be brought to reality. But will these initiatives ever really ease the nightmare conditions that people have been subjecting themselves to for decades?

In any city – no matter how robust the transit system is or how often the trains run on time the fact that most people commute to and from work within the same 2-hour period of time remains the fundamental cause of congestion.

This past summer I was introduced to and last month profiled by the founders of The Work Revolution, which is a movement + advocacy group that promotes human and meaningful work for everyone. Co-founder Josh Allan Dykstra describes the group as “pioneers designing radically life-giving places to work.”

It is essential that we embrace these pioneering ideas in our quality of life discussions around transportation. We must begin aggressively thinking outside of the 8-5 box that reduces productivity and diminishes employee well being.

Why does the world need a work revolution?

As early as 1817 Welsh factory owner Robert Owen envisioned the use of an eight-hour workday and coined the slogan “Eight hours labour, Eight hours recreation, Eight hours rest” as a way for workers to have a balanced life. Most people today have anything but a balanced life and many continually compromise personal fulfillment in favor of working more and more hours. The madness has to stop.

Read the entire interview at The Work Revolution