The next interviewee that I communicated with was Mark Coleman.  I'll jump right into the interview, but then will cover a few more bits of information about Mark & his work before jumping into the statistics.

1. What is your occupation?  What exactly does the occupation entail?

I am an artist and professional photographer. My job entails photographing people (mostly), both in the studio and on location. I spend a lot of time manipulating images as well.

2. How long have you been in the occupation?

Professionally, since 1982. I'm self employed doing only art and photography.

3. What city & state do you live in?

Portland, OR.

…the nitty gritty commute.

1. What mode (car, bike, foot, boat, airplane, train, airship, etc) of transport do you use for getting to and from work?

I sold my car nine months ago and am a bike commuter. In situations where I must transport large equipment, I rent a Zip car.

2. How long does each leg of your commute take? 

Since I am a freelancer, it varies. It was generally about eight miles one way, until I moved closer to the city. Now it's about three to four miles, so it takes about twenty five minutes.

If you don't commute, how much time do you spend getting to and from your desk or place of work?

Not sure I understand this one. I walk upstairs and I'm at work. Takes maybe six seconds.

3. How do you pass the time while commuting or traveling?  Read, write, compute, chat, other?

I am guilty of listening to rather loud modern progressive rock (which I prefer to call Nuovo Metal) on my i-pod.

4. If you had your choice, what mode would you take?

If I could fly like a bird, that'd be ideal. If not, I absolutely love biking.

5. If there was one thing you could change about your commute, what would it be?

There would be no cars.

6. If gas went up to $5.00 a gallon, how would that change your commute?

It wouldn't at all. I have no idea how much gas costs now, and that makes me happy.

Ok, now after the interview, let's jump into some of the awesomeness that is Mark Coleman.  First off, if you don't know or have not met Mark, ping him via Twitter @Kram, or just get out in the social realm that is geek Portland & you'll probably get a chance to meet him.

A little more web presence:  Check out Mark at the following places on the inter-tubewebs.  🙂

Main Site:  http://markcolman.com

Check out the shot of his with the Red Hot Chili Peppers (image to the right) for a great taste of the work Mark puts together.

In addition, if you want to learn more about photography and other such things, check out his videos on via markcolman.tv.

Mark has the 2nd most preferred commute around so far, a bicycle ride.  Out of the hundreds of interview responses I’ve had the happiest two types of commuters are telecommuters and second is bicycle commuters.

While transit riders and auto drivers become lethargic, bicycle riders get out there and save money and above all are vastly more healthy than other commuters.  It would be nice to see more ground swell of support for this type of commuting.  In many parts of the country kids ride bikes, adults get fat and drive.  In Portland, everyone does everything, so there isn’t such a negative connotation to the concept of bike commuter.  This leaves me with a question, what else could we do to support bicycle commuters around the country?

Now for the maths & stats.

Commuting Interview Statistics

• Occupations: Software Developer, Software Architect, QA Analyst/Graphic Design/Swiss Army Knife/Rock Star, Multimedia Journalist, Photographer
• Prospective Mode Trip Count:
  • Walk: 1
  • Bike: 2
  • Bus: 2
  • Streetcar: 1
  • Automobile: 1
  • Light Rail: 1  (Phoenix Valley Metro x1)
• Cities:  Portland (OR) x3, Vancouver (WA), Phoenix (AZ)
• Commute Activities:
  • Podcasts: 2
  • RSS Feeds: 1
  • Blackberry: 1
  • Music: 1
  • E-mail, Txt, Twitter, Moblog: 1
• Commute Times:
  • Total For Everyone:  295 minutes door to door.
  • Average Commute:  59 minutes door to door.
• Commute Changes:
  • Make it shorter: 1
  • Nothing: 1
  • No cars: 1
  • Wifi on Light Rail: 1
• $5.00 Commute Changes:
  • Nothing:  3
  • Bus Pass Would Increase: 1
  • Would help decide about what to do with the car:  1  (by getting rid of it)
• Total Interviews Published: 5