Telecommuting plan killed by state refusal. (Arizona)

A telecommuting program designed to take advantage of unused government office space, cut the number of cars on the road and make life easier for government employees at all levels has hit a dead end with the state's decision not to participate.

"We don't feel that at this time joining the shared facilities program makes sense," says John Corbett, teleworks programs administrator for the state. A previous telecommuting program set up by the state did not draw much interest, he says.

The state's decision not to participate was the straw that broke the camel's back for the proposed shared facilities program that would have been open to state and local government agencies, says Randi Alcott, Ride Share manager at the Regional Public Transportation Authority. The RPTA was charged with setting up and operating the program using grant funds.

"This analysis is really …