Commuter Continuum

Welcome to the Commuter Continuum!

What kind of Commute Day is it? Is it a perfect ten? ...or are we stuck in the car?
If we were in an ideal world - we would love our job (as I do!), we would have every transportation option available, we would have the perfect weather everyday (72 degrees, 30% humidity, light breeze from the north, partly cloudy) and we would be able to walk to work in five minutes.

This brings me to thinking about a continuum that would score a particular day with a particular commuting tool or mode. I would rate the above scenario as a perfect ten. However, we don't all live in a ideal world.

Some of us commute to school, others work in Darlington. Some have kids to drop off and errands to run during the day. Still others are retired and only go out to get the paper - but go out later to pick up a few things. It's a mixed-up set of circumstances, but this continuum can still work for you.

1. First, take stock in the types of transportation, or modes, you own (or will own in the near future). For me, it's feet (distance to work allows it), a three year old mountain bike and a five-ear old car. You may also have a skateboard, scooter or motorcycle or a nearby bus stop at your disposal. [Please don't use a riding lawnmower! -see a recent post]
   
   
2. Next, line up your modes on a scale from one to ten, with ten being 'perfect'. Now the meaning of perfect to me is arriving to work under my own power and little or no time constraint: walking is ideal. If I am in a hurry, then a bicycle. As a last resort, or when my score for the day is low, then the car is the option. Unfortunately, a bus stop is not near my house.
   

It's personal - in essence, I want to get to work without using petroleum. It saves on insurance and at the pump... plus I like Florence BBQ, but I want to keep my weight in check!

So my continuum, so far, looks like this:
3. Now, let's add all the mode specific elements that would lean to one side of the spectrum or the other. I am considering time, how long is the commute (Google it), traffic, temperature, humidity, rain in forecast, available shower (my office has one, but do you work close to a gym?), errands to run at lunch?

Now my continuum looks like this:

For me, rain (and illness) is the only factor keeping me in a car for the commute since my distance to work is walkable and bike-able. Likewise, some factors won't spoil the entire score. Today was definitely 100% humidity (the photo above shows the fog!), but I still rode the bike in.

Of course, this continuum may work also for all sorts of travels: small list grocery shopping, visiting neighbors, dropping mail, visiting the gym, going to the library - the list is endless depending on where you live.

A fun exercise is to draw a half-mile line from your house (Google Earth!) to see what is within walking distance, about three to five miles would be biking distance.

Now, if we can just get more sidewalks and bicycle lanes!

So, what's your score and mode? For me, today is a 7 on a bike!