The end of traffic? NL and companies plan to revolutionize schedules

Imagining Monterrey without the stifling rush-hour traffic may no longer be a utopia. The Nuevo León government and industry giants have initiated a series of formal dialogues with an ambitious and potentially revolutionary goal: to completely redesign the workday through staggered schedules.

For decades, the solution to the problem of traffic congestion in large cities has been to build more infrastructure: more bridges, more avenues, more second floors. However, this strategy has proven to have limits. The initiative now being considered in Nuevo León represents a paradigm shift: instead of just modifying concrete, the goal is to change habits.

The goal of the "staggered schedule" proposal is simple in concept but complex in execution: to spread out workers' start and end times over a longer period to avoid millions of people crowding onto the streets at the same time.

Unlike other policies that can be imposed by decree, the success of this plan depends entirely on the cooperation of the private sector. Monterrey is an industrial powerhouse, and its thousands of factories, industrial parks, and corporate offices generate significant mobility flows.

Therefore, the fact that the main business chambers, such as CAINTRA, have been participating in these dialogues from the beginning is the key to the news. The discussion is not whether it will be done, but how it will be done. The industry's concerns and needs will be on the table:

• How will it affect production lines and logistics?
• What incentives could the government offer to facilitate the transition?
• How will schedules be coordinated between different economic sectors?

If the proposal comes to fruition, it could radically transform the daily lives of Monterrey residents. The potential benefits are enormous:

• A drastic reduction in time lost in traffic, which, according to IMCO studies, can reach 100 hours per person per year.
• Decreased stress levels and improved quality of life.
• Optimization of public transport, which could operate more efficiently with distributed demand.
• Positive environmental impact due to the reduction of polluting emissions.

However, the plan also faces significant challenges, such as the need to extend public transportation schedules to cover the new shifts and coordination with school schedules to avoid disrupting family dynamics.

This dialogue is the first step on a long road. Monterrey has embarked on a bold experiment in social engineering and urban management that, if successful, will not only ease its streets but could become a model for other traffic-choked Latin American cities to follow.