NEW Read sustainable commuting opinions and ideas from our readers.

The list of reasons we sit in rush-hour traffic everyday is almost as long as the time we spend in the car. We like the alone time. We live for talk radio. We need the flexibility it provides. We all love to justify it. But it's typically 25-30 minutes in stop-and-start traffic and, for over 70% of us, solo drive time. Is it really worth it?

Many employers have become convinced that the employee who commutes easily and contentedly works more productively. Take the case of Seattle-based WRQ, Inc., a leader in business software willing to bet cold, hard cash on it.

WRQ kicks back $20 cash every month to employees who drive four or fewer times that month. But it's not like paying your kid to get A's in school. Area employers like WRQ are saving sometimes upwards of six figures by not having to provide expansive parking lots or garages. It's money that WRQ believes rightfully belongs to the employees who made it possible.

And WRQ employees -- through their own creativity and motivation -- are reaping more than financial benefits. Says David McLean, who, along with Kjell Swedin, has canoed to work once a week for three years, "There's nothing like paddling on the dark, dead calm of the lake in December with the traffic above you on I-5 all stacked up." Others take advantage of the company's secure bike rooms, showers, and lockers that make bicycle commuting a pleasure.

Certainly, some of the WRQ faithful are a bit more conventional -- but no less enthusiastic. They've formed active vanpools that not only represent cross-sections of the company (imagine sales, support, and IT folks riding alongside software engineers!) but also yield diverse benefits:

*Robert Dietrich, a vanpool coordinator, says it keeps his family from having to buy an extra car.
*Another vanpooler loves the time the high-occupancy lanes save.
*Another likes the opportunity to chat about "recipes and past lives."

But what of the necessity of individual flexibility? A guaranteed ride home program covers the cost of cab fare should a vanpooler miss a scheduled departure time.

While building a $150 million company among the industry leaders, CEO Doug Walker still finds time to lead by example. He rides his bicycle 18 miles each way, to and from work each day. His ad hoc Geo Metro loaner program is also a favorite among employees who crave an alternative to their cars but still need to be able to run errands quickly and efficiently during the day. Walker's "trust and respect" management style carries over to the Geo sign-out board just inside the door of his own office.

This creative style has not gone unnoticed. The Commuter Challenge, a partnership between the Economic Development Council of Seattle and King County, area cities, and state and regional agencies, recognized WRQ as a 2000 Diamond Award Winner at its seventh annual awards breakfast on January 18. Since the Commuter Challenge began recognizing employers in 1995, WRQ has remained one of the standard-bearing employers helping to change the conversation about commuting in Seattle and throughout the country -- by changing the conversations among their employees.

HOW DO YOU COMMUTE? Tell us all your commuting stories -- the most interesting ones, the funniest ones, the wackiest ones, the most creative ones, the most sustainable ones. We want to hear 'em all!

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DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT
Use CommuterPage.com's commuting costs calculator.

LAUGH ABOUT IT
When you think about our perspective on public transportation, it's downright comical and ripe for satire. Oh, that Onion!

LEARN ABOUT IT
See why WRQ is one of Fortune magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work For" in America.