reduce wasted time and fuel
Many firms decide on a site for new offices where local property taxes are lowest, generally far from public transportation. Employees must then drive to work, wasting fuel and time and, after lengthy travel, their ability to do a good job.
Q1: Why does the United States import oil?
Idea Description
Many firms decide on a site for new offices where local property taxes are the lowest in a particular area, which often means far from public transportation, and even ordinary amenities (restaurants, supermarkets, housing, even sidewalks). Employees are forced to drive to work, wasting fuel and time and, after lengthy travel, involving physically dangerous situations, their ability to do a good job for their first hour of so of the day.
Federal tax laws could be adjusted to discourage firms from moving their offices to locations not accessible to public transportation and encourage firms to move to accessible locations.
What will you do if you win $10,000 for this idea?
Undertake a study of large employers and large worksites to identify sites that are not accessible by public transportation; determine how much gasoline is wasted by siting of offices away from public transportation on an annual basis, in particular, the percentage of oil imports that can be attributed to siting of workplaces away from public transportation.
Vote for it now.
We import oil because we consumed 20.7 million barrels per day in 2007. We actually only import around 58% of the oil we use, which is lower than I would have guessed. Check out this article for more information, http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/energy_in_brief/foreign_oil_dependence.cfm .
Unfortunately we are dependent on oil, and we will be until many many problems have been solved. It would be nice if people didn't have to waste fuel commuting to work, but that's just the way it is. Many companies are located in large cities where many employees walk, bike, or use public transportation to get to work.