To alleviate the traffic jam that occurs each day at the company's headquarters in Toyota City, Japan, the company is asking the people who work to develop cars to avoid commuting in them.

"It may seem like a contradiction, but if you think about the problems we are causing to the community around us, it can't be helped," said Toyota spokeswoman Monika Fujita. "It's also quite meaningless to drive in a traffic jam," she said.

Every weekday morning, a 2-3-km traffic jam - which takes about an hour to clear - builds up in front of Toyota headquarters in Toyota City, Aichi prefecture, some 250 km from Tokyo, she said.

Since February, Toyota has provided a free bus shuttle service from two nearby train stations. By July, the number of workers taking public transit to work had risen to 5,000 from 3,000, she said.
One 43-year-old company employee told the Asahi newspaper he sold the car he once used to drive to the office. "It might be a minus for the company. But now I can use the time spent commuting for myself."