North Shore News
April 26, 2007
Dear Editor:
Your recent article on the future bridge traffic gridlock commuters face on the North Shore, Bridge Traffic Study Is All Bad News (North Shore News, Sunday, March 25), is an opportunity for those concerned to reflect on alternative solutions rather than "beating a dead horse." This dilemma has been an ongoing debate for the past few decades without an economically viable solution in sight.
Time to think outside the box. Why commute when you can telececommute? That's the question North Shore commuters should be asking themselves after the release of the Lions Gate Bridge traffic study. Urban Systems' thorough investigation deemed all 20 of the proposed solutions cost-prohibitive and ultimately ineffective, giving little hope to the vexed commuters whose daily fight to cross the bridge has gone from annoying to just plain ridiculous.
The ideal solution to reduce bridge traffic is to simply eliminate the need to commute in the first place. When the North Shore has a fibre-optic network that extends to each home (FTTH) we will be able to quickly transmit huge, high-resolution files that require tremendous capacity. This will enable people to share information without having to be in the same room. People can work from home (telecommute), students can enhance their education by participating in lectures at other institutions (distance education) and seniors can have medical attention within the comfort of their home (telemedicine). Not only can our environment benefit from less pollution, but people can save the time, money and frustration of commuting, while still maintaining the ability to interact in real time with their colleagues, customers and suppliers. FTTH can serve as an umbilical cord between companies and their telecommuters.
Why all the fuss about more speed and capacity (bandwidth)? Fibre networks are capable of delivering vast amounts of data such as videos, drawings and music with lightening-fast speed. For example, if a two-hour movie (video file) takes 424 hours to deliver over dial-up Internet or 24 hours over cable, it will only take seven minutes over fibre. Let's face it, we are bandwidth hogs. Remember the Commodore 64? This computer doesn't come close to being able to handle the games and applications we use today. Fibre-optic networks far exceed the capabilities of the current network that brings telephone and data service to your home. Our existing network cannot support and deliver the increasingly data-intensive applications that we want.
If workers are encouraged to telecommute and have the communications infrastructure in place to do so, pollution and roadway wear-and-tear will decrease. Not only will workers be able to bypass aggravating traffic jams, reduce fuel consumption and eliminate parking costs, their companies will benefit. Companies who encourage their workers to telecommute can reduce their overhead cost while maintaining or perhaps increasing employee productivity. Best of all, employees will no longer be late for work because they are losing their daily battle against the traffic on the Lions Gate Bridge!
When compared with the $3 to $50 million price tags of the solutions shown by Urban Systems to be hopelessly inadequate, a fibre-optic network emerges as an affordable and convenient alternative that will revolutionize how, when and where we are able to work.
Lisa Payne
West Vancouver