My latest interview is of the beautiful Sasha Gollish. Sasha is a BA (BE Sc) with a rather interesting blog at http://www.sashaonthestreet.com. Definitely check it out, her writing is a good read. So on to her answers for the world.
1. What is your occupation? What exactly does the occupation entail?
I went to school for civil engineering and economics and now work for the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario in the planning and design department (aka Highway Engineering). My job is a mix of design, management, and public correspondence/communication.
2. How long have you been in the occupation?
One year. I was previously employed by a design-build foundation company.
3. What city & state do you live in?
I live in Toronto, Ontario – up here in the Great White North, Canada.
Commuting Nitty Gritty.
1. What mode (car, bike, foot, boat, airplane, train, airship, etc) of transport do you use for getting to and from work?
How I get to work varies every day and somewhat by season.My spring, summer and fall commutes are mainly done by road bike. On the days it rains I will sometimes drive but I'm fortunate enough to be able to be dropped off at the subway by boyfriend. This commute entails a short subway ride followed by two buses.In the winter I switch between driving and subway/bus. I know terrible that I drive but below will explain why.
2. How long does each leg of your commute take? If you don't commute, how much time do you spend getting to and
from your desk or place of work?
If I drive to work it is usually because I have left early in the morning, between 6:45 and 7 and it takes me less than 15mins to get to work. If I drive during rush-hour this time is doubled and instead of taking the highway I take city streets.If I bike it is about a 35minute commute – depending on how tired my legs are. The last stretch is a 2mile/3km uphill!I've also run home from work before. I think it took me about an hour and 5 minutes to run home, and I also think I'll be doing that more this summer.If I take transit, and only if my boyfriend drops me off does it take between 35 and 45 minutes. A 5 min subway ride followed by two buses. Jane Street is what depicts my commute times, sometimes its fast and free flowing and sometimes it's a parking lot. The second bus I take is the Wilson bus and sometimes you can wait 10minutes for it to arrive. It usually travels in packs of 2 or 3 buses instead of being spaced out.If my boyfriend doesn't drop me off it adds an another 15 minutes to my trip.
3. How do you pass the time while commuting or traveling? Read, write, compute, chat, other?
When I take transit I almost always read. Sometimes I take a few minutes and catch up on email. I also usually have my ipod on.
4. If you had your choice, what mode would you take?
my bike – every day all year!
5. If there was one thing you could change about your commute, what would it be?
I wish I worked in the downtown core and had the option to take the subway and street car to work more often.
6. If gas went up to $5.00 a gallon, how would that change your commute?
In the winter it would affect the number of days that I drove and I would probably take transit more often. It is far to dangerous to bike in Toronto in the winter!
It was good interviewing Sasha, have a good day and good luck on working in the downtown core one day. 🙂
Transit Sleuth 