Will staggered office timings help ease rush hour in Mumbai local trains?

Are staggered office timings the answer to help Mumbaikars beat the rush hour? In the city, where on an average nine people are killed daily in train-related accidents, a recent campaign by an advertising professional, backed by the International Advertising Association (IAA), has put the focus back on changing rigid office hours, in a bid to scatter the commuting rush evenly and avoid morning and evening chaos.

The campaign, WorkToLiveToWork, started by Nandini Dias, a managing committee member of IAA's India chapter, urges Mumbai-based companies to implement staggered office timings for employees.

The morning peak hour is 8.30 to 9.30 am and the evening 6 to 7 pm. Representational Picture

Campaign cause
"The objective is simple. WorkToLiveToWork is pitching for all employees to get the simple right to choose their own starting hours between 8 am and 11 am, and closing hours between 4 pm and 7 pm while sticking to a definite set of working hours between 11 am and 4 pm. The biggest reason for rush-hour chaos is that almost all organisations have similar timings. Infrastructure cannot improve itself overnight. But with flexible timings and enough firms participating, the rush-hour intensity can potentially disappear," said Dias, who has lost loved ones in accidents on the suburban railway network. Ramesh Narayan, president of IAA's India Chapter, said, "Instead of waiting for the infrastructure to be improved, which would obviously take a long time, Nandini's idea is as practical as it is simple."

Nandini Dias

Expert views
"It would be a good idea to stagger timings for different sectors. Earlier, when Mumbai was an industrial city, factories and mills followed set shifts. This automatically staggered the crowds on modes of transport. Now, with it becoming a services city, everyone is rushing at the same time," said transport expert Ajit Shenoy of Mumbai Vikas Parishad. "We can consider IT services to have staggered timings. Also, if government banks and courts can follow two shifts, that too would help immensely."

Ajit Shenoy

Subhash Gupta

Make a serious attempt
Former member of the National Railway Consultative Committee Subhash Gupta seconded the views and said a serious attempt needed to be made. "Central and Western Railways have their head offices at CSMT and Churchgate. If this idea is set in motion at these places, it will help in a big way and set an example for other undertakings to follow," he added.
Pledge support to the campaign on social media with #FlexiTimeSavesLives, or by logging on to https://www.worktolivetowork.com/