I’m not sure if it would fit in /r/Showerthoughts, so I thought to post it here. This is a sort of thought experiment I just had. Sorry it’s kind of long, TL;DR at the end.
If common workplaces (i.e. most things that help make the world go 'round, excluding emergency services) all had more flexible schedules for when they open & when their workers are there, then it would be way easier to trust and rely on public transportation to get to work. Specifically modes like buses and subways.
Those things alone would help improve so much in the world already, but they would connect to, affect, and improve many other things.
For a rough example:
If ‘Generic Workplace’ had a policy of
“You must arrive at work/clock-in sometime in the first hour of your shift, at minimum.”
Instead of:
“clock-in at this EXACT minute or face consequences sooner or later”.
It would be so much easier for the average worker to rely on public transportation more!
A big flaw in most public transportation (in the US at least) is that it isn’t always on time and is usually late, which makes you late to work and then you get reprimanded for being late even though it wasn’t your fault. If we relaxed our attendance policies in general & acknowledged that things happen out of our control that impact our daily lives & schedule, the punctuality of public transport becomes a non-issue.
There would be less cars on the road and investments into public transportation could be made to make it more available. Carbon emissions would then take a decent hit, overall improving the environment & air quality which then doesn’t negatively impact people’s general health as much… So on and so forth.
I think this would be well worth a couple small drawbacks like the average Karen having to talk to a different barista instead of ‘their usual one’, or whatever, because Barista's bus is running 10 mins late. This culture of consistently perfect scheduling and attendance for ‘the ease of the consumer’ just isn’t the right call.
TL;DR: If workplaces were more flexible with when you must be at work (or more okay with employees being late), people could rely on public transportation more. Less cars on the road, less carbon emissions, investments into public transport could then be made generally improving the entire system.