I commute by subway, and I read on the way. This has value. Not massive value, but some value. There's no question that it is of more (if only a little more) value to society for a person to spend X minutes reading than to spend X minutes doing nothing.
However, I can't read on buses because I am prone to carsickness. Rail is fine as long as I'm not facing backwards, but on wheels I can't read even for a few minutes. This is relevant because my employer is considering relocating our office to a location that would be served by rail under Transit City, but without Transit City would only be served by buses. I'm already opposed to this possible location because it's inconvenient for me and makes my commute several times longer, but with the removal of money from Transit City in the recent provincial budget, I'll also lose the ability to multitask my commute. What could be an hour spent reading becomes an hour of dead time. Between my employer and the province, they're stealing time from my life and no one is getting anything in return. I am more valuable to my employer and to society if I show up at work having read the day's papers than if I have to catch up at work or translate without being fully up to speed. I am more valuable if I have read 50 pages of whatever book I'm working on than if I haven't. I'm even more valuable if I've spent the commute gaming to destress and clear my head than if I arrive at my destination with the same (or more) stress.
This multitaskability needs to be a factor in broader transportation planning. I don't think people think of this because a lot of people drive, and you can't multitask while driving. But if they can get people out of cars and into transit, then each of those transit passengers gains usable time. If that transit is on rails instead of buses, a significant segment of the carsick-prone population can multitask. And if they can provide wi-fi and enough capacity that everyone gets a seat, then nearly everyone (except those who are prone to carsickness even on rails) can actively make good use of the time.
They recently determined that the average commute in Toronto is 80 minutes. Imagine if every Torontonian gained 80 minutes of useable time, where they could read a newspaper or a book or use the internet! Time that was once a complete write-off can now be spent being informed or educated. Some people could get work done on their commute and therefore spend less time in the office. Students could get a good chunk of their homework done before they even get home. Parents could unwind a bit so they come home to their children more relaxed, and the idea of spending the evening tending to your kids might be more appealing when you've already caught up with the latest episode of Lost on the way home. You could walk in the door caught up on your Twitter feed and your Google Reader and your Facebook wall, so your time and energy is now available to attend to your family or your home or prepare healthy meals or work out. All of that has value.
Economists are always talking about how important productivity is. As personal technology becomes better and less expensive, we're increasingly able to do practically anything in an hour spent sitting quietly. They need to take this into account in transportation planning, so 80 minutes wasted (and perhaps spent polluting and at higher risk of dying or killing, if you're driving) becomes 80 productive minutes.
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