It was decades ago that Atlanta earned its nickname as "The City Too Busy to Hate." Today, metro Atlanta has seized the mantle as the largest employment center in the southeast. If a region's success is defined by the horsepower of its economic engine, then certainly metro Atlanta is a HEMI. But as employees in search of work-life balance, can we truly say that quality of life for the region is firing on all cylinders when traffic congestion takes away so much of our time?

For many commuters, dealing with traffic delay has become another problem that we simply grow to tolerate. But how many of us have ever paused to really contemplate just how much time we're spending each day in gridlock? A regional survey found that the average roundtrip commute in metro Atlanta is 72 minutes each day -- more than one hour each day spent just getting to and from our place of employment.

This means over the course of a year (240 workdays), the average metro Atlanta commuter is forfeiting about 12 days (17,280 hours) worth of free time in order to slog through traffic. Does this finding surprise you? More importantly, does it make you want to change the situation?

Outside of listening to books on tape, it's hard to be productive (and safe) when you're behind the wheel. If you want to reclaim some of the time you're losing on your daily commute, the best decision is to let someone else do the driving. Read something from the passenger seat of a carpool. One group of carpoolers started a book club on wheels. Get work done while riding on the train. Or eliminate your commute time altogether and work from home when practical.

As much as we want to pretend otherwise, there are only 24 hours in the day. What would it mean to have some of that time back? An IBM commuter study conducted in 2008 found that 47.4% of Atlanta respondents indicated if their commute were significantly reduced, they would spend more time with friends and family – highest of all cities surveyed.

So, if you could free up some extra time by getting out of traffic, how would you use it? Where does time rank in terms of your pursuit of work-life balance? Chime in and share your thoughts.

This is an ideal time to reflect on the past year and look ahead with anticipation to the future. We know what stories made headlines in 2008 as they relate to The Clean Air Campaign's mission. Here are a few themes that defined 2008 as they relate to you:

Personal Finance
$4 a gallon gas stormed onto the scene and made it financially painful to drive. None of us knew if the price would ever come back down, so many of us started to use alternatives like carpooling, riding transit, teleworking, vanpooling, even bicycling to work. The Clean Air Campaign had a breakthrough year as a result, with enrollment in our incentive programs up three times over the levels achieved in 2007.

This unprecedented demand for access to our financial incentives is a reflection of the economic challenges more commuters and employers are facing as we all come to grips with the recession. It's also the reason The Clean Air Campaign and its partner organizations have made a business decision to change the maximum payout of our $3 a day incentive that rewards solo drivers who make the switch to an alternative commute. Effective January 1, 2009 the cap for this incentive will change from $180 to $100 so that more commuters can take advantage of this popular program, which is now entering its eighth year.

Public Health
Despite tougher air quality standards, metro Atlanta experienced fewer smog days than in 2007. In all, there were 29 days when conditions either reached unhealthy levels for sensitive groups (Code Orange, 25 days)) or unhealthy levels for all (Code Red, 4 days). But if the region were still under the old standard for measurement -- as we were in 2007 -- it is likely that we would have only observed 15 smog days.

Are the actions of Georgia commuters moving the needle on air quality? Too early to tell. Although the region has been coping with a prolonged drought, the late summer brought unusually cooler temperatures and conditions that were less conducive to allow ground-level ozone to form. But the impact of gas prices meant fewer cars on the road -- and fewer tailpipes contributing to poor air quality.

Quality of Life
A study of traffic in major metro areas ranked Atlanta's as the second most painful commute, behind only Los Angeles. Not a designation to boast about, but it's easy to see why traffic is such a grind here: the average roundtrip daily commute in metro Atlanta takes 72 minutes to complete. We're giving up meaningful time we could be spending with loved ones, pursuing hobbies, advancing our interests.
One finding from this study reveals 40% of Atlanta respondents indicated they had intentionally skipped a car trip because of expected traffic. Does that sound like you?

"Father Time" is performing a somewhat symbolic gesture this New Year's Eve before the clock ticks down on 2008. One second will be added to 2008 in order to rebalance a small discrepancy with the atomic clock kept by the scientific community. We get one extra second to enjoy life. How will you spend it? Here's hoping you don't have to spend it behind the wheel stuck in traffic.