How do you get to work?
I aspire to be a year-round bike commuter. I generally do a pretty good job of it. During winter months, now that I am working out of Transfer Road, I transfer on Franklin Avenue to Route 67 to get to the office. During the rest of the year, I ride a bike. The bike I ride most days is a junky mountain bike from the early 1990s. It probably gets the most mileage because it has racks, fenders, and wide tires to deal with all of the potholes.
Why do you choose to commute that way?
It's a combination of pragmatism, habit, and making time for what I enjoy. My partner and I share a car, and her work requires her to drive all over the metro to places where taking transit isn't feasible. Since moving to the Twin Cities from Reno, Nevada in 2019, I found that driving here was both stressful and costly. Taking the bus or biking was a lot cheaper than paying for gas and parking, and just about as convenient and timely as driving. My commute into work is mostly on bike paths or a single seat bus ride.
What do you enjoy most about your commute?
For commuting by bicycle, it's the flexibility. Any number of routes are available to you. You get this granular understanding of certain parts of neighborhoods because you can go where a car can't and faster than a pedestrian. As for the bus, I enjoy the comfort and the unstructured time. Commuting in a car is time you don't really get back. You are focused on the road. When you are on the bus, you can do what you want.
What is your preferred method of transportation?
Despite everything, my preferred method of transportation is to walk when I can. Walking allows me a to see what our riders experience use when they use our service. A lot of my work with Engineering & Facilities is focused on areas around the stop, where our customers wait, board, and alight from transit.
How We Roll celebrates Metro Transit employees who regularly ride transit and other forms of sustainable transportation. Read more How We Roll Q&As here.