Forms of Alternative Transportation to Work?

puargsss asks: "For many people a bicycle is not a viable form of transportation to work due to lack of storage space. Are there any products out there suitable for transportation to a working environment (the ability to store them inside is essential), or a detachable/retractable set of wheels similar to heelys that are built for a working environment? I normally rollerblade for sport/exercise, but it is fairly unprofessional to show up in my workplace with the rather large and clunky traditional equipment. Any ideas?"

Comments

it's not a lack of storage space

[Bill Dog]

It's that I'd have to ride on busy streets to get there, and I'm too young to die (or worse).

As a bicycle commuter...

[Otter]

...my advice is to buy a junker bike, lock it outside, and if it gets rusty or vandalized, so be it. Maybe there's something I'm not getting (please explain if that's so) but I can't imagine a workplace where there's _nothing_ to chain a bike to.

The only such situation I can imagine is where you ride so far that you need a good road bike that you can't leave locked to a parking meter. But if that's so, wheelie shoes are hardly a workable alternative.

Unprofessional?

[Seumas]

So showing up to work in a giant 4,000lb gas guzzling, exhaust spewing, parking-space using hung of metal is professional, but a pair of wheels on your feet is not?

This makes about as much sense as those people who judge employees based on whether or not they're married and have kids.

Get to work however the hell you want. If your boss somehow insists that you use one method over another, the fat fucker can pay for it.

Re:Unprofessional?

[nurb432]

Ah, you must not work in the professional world, where these things DO matter..

Your clothes, where you live, what kind of car you drive all factor into your career options in the 'professional' world..

Be it right or wrong, its reality.

Re:Vespa

[HotNeedleOfInquiry]

I've got a Vespa beat all to hell.

I ride a 1964 bright red Honda Super 90

Bought it as a basket case, spent 4 months rebuilding it. It gets 175 miles/gal, does 55 and parks like a bicycle.

It also is a great conversation starter "I had one of those in high school" is the most common.

Want alternatives? Lobby your company for them

[Chakka!]

Many companies have incentives from city or local governments to reduce the # of parking spots or automobile commuters arriving at the workplace. Talk to your Company and ask the tough questions: what is this company doing to support alternatives to driving to work? Every place I have ever worked I've contacted everyone I could think of to ask about showers, changing areas, lockers, and parking for bicycles. Many times the answer is "We dont have any" but unless people ask for these things, why would a company build them? A few times I was suprised and the company relocated (from somewhere they were unused) or erected outside bicycle-storage lockers which I could then use. Its up to you... Participate in building the workplace/world you want.