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Russian Occupation: Structural Engineer 
How do you usually get to work? Why did you decide to commute this way?
Mostly, I work from home. Prior to the pandemic I had a long commute, but then I switched jobs and could walk a mile to the office. During the pandemic, we closed all small offices, so I adjusted to working from home. Since then, I have mostly worked from a desk I’ve set up at home. So far, I am resisting pressure to open a commercial office; WFH makes too much sense: commute time, CO2 emissions, and office rental fees are all saved for the small cost of minor inconveniences and less efficient training of very junior engineers.
I dislike wasting time commuting; because of that and climate change and for health reasons, I have always chosen my apartments to be within walking or public transit distance of work. (Exception: when my company moved from one city to another because office rents were too high.)
How long have you been using this commute option?
5 ½ years
How far is your commute? How long does it take you each way?
If I end up deciding to or having to open an office location, my commute will become 1.7 miles each way. The location has a basement gym and showers, so I would try to commute by bike.
What is your favorite thing about your commute?
Extremely low fossil fuel usage. (My type of engineering is focused on waterfront structures, whose designs are made more expensive because of sea level rise and larger waves from man-made climate change.)
What is a challenge of your commute? How have your overcome that challenge?
Challenges: Training junior engineers, hosting meetings, and printing 11×17 drawings outside of a traditional, 1980s-style office setting.
Solutions: Acceptance that training takes longer; most of our other structural engineers are not in this time zone, in any case. Most clients would rather meet virtually or at their offices anyway. FedEx & marking up pdfs of drawings instead of physical copies.
Tell us a favorite or interesting commute story.
Not really commute tales, but the first is about a errand. 1. My first use of my bike to get groceries was about Feb. 10th, 2024, but I got distracted by the fun of poking around in different neighborhoods. I ended up seeing many spots that I wouldn’t have noticed otherwise, including the striking, brightly colored mural of the blonde woman with white eyes on the building near the skatepark in Vancouver Central Park. Weaving in and out of dead ends and parks, I racked up 18 or 19 miles before actually reaching WinCo. 2. I went for a bike ride early one evening, mainly on the west half of the BBCT. It wasn’t a very long ride, but I counted 26 wild rabbits.
How does your commute help you save time and/or money?
Traveling by bike saves me $22,000 to purchase a used car + $1300 per year for insurance + annual maintenance and fuel costs + time spent dealing with maintenance and fueling. WFH saves me about 45 minutes of wasted (commute) time per WFH day. Not having to rent an office space for me saves my company over $10,000 per year. Traveling by bike makes me healthier and delays or makes less likely the onset of chronic diseases or ailments.
How does your employer help accommodate your commute?
Since before I joined, the company was partly committed to having a distributed workforce that could collaborate using Teams or Skype. The company is reasonably supportive of WFH. (Again, not having to rent an office space for me saves my company $10,000 to $15,000 per year, so the company benefits from my reduced commute and from supporting WFH. Also, if it chooses, it can describe this as part of a commitment to combatting climate change.)
Do you have any advice for someone looking to use a climate-friendly commute option?
If you can afford it, try to live within walking distance of your job and a grocery store. It only takes one or two practice rides, with Ortlieb panniers, to become used to carrying 60 pounds of groceries on a bike; the bike frame does all of the “work”. If you work as a professional or in similar, office-based work, when you become experienced and hard to replace, try to have the fortitude to negotiate as much WFH as you can for yourself and your coworkers; it takes cars off the road, cuts emissions, and makes parking and commuting easier for everyone else. WFH or living such that you do not need to drive much is extremely beneficial in combatting climate change and it should save you money, time, and the hassle of interacting with other drivers. Any time saved can be used for other obligations and replacing an unpleasant commute with walking or biking for chores or fun and may improve your health and happiness.