Cable car, subway, on foot, train, and tram are among the ways people commute to work Epoch Times reporters from Switzerland to the United Kingdom discovered when they asked locals: “How do you get to work each day?”
Adela Judasova, 19, Ballet Dancer, Choreographer, Student
I usually go by bus, I prefer it to a car—I don’t need to concentrate on anything. Unlike other people with ordinary jobs, I have to travel in the late afternoon, or at night after performances that are physically very demanding, so from this perspective a bus means a huge rest for me.
Oscar Quesada, 40, Cable Car Driver
I live down in Stechelberg and sometimes we work on different cable cars up or down so I have to get a cable car to get to work. I mean we don’t need to; we can walk (laughing).
[Editor's note: The Alps cableway from Stechelberg goes to Schilthorn Piz Gloria at 9,744 feet; it has two intermediate stations where passengers need to change.]
Nigel Jeffcoat, 55, Administrator
I cycle to work on my road bike traveling 8 km to and from work for a total of 16 km each day. It takes approximately 35 to 40 minutes each way. I do it because I don’t want to pay the cost of public transport and have to suffer the inconvenience of public transport. And it helps keep me fit as well. I have a license and I have a car, but I don’t want to bring it to work. I use it on the weekend. Cycling is not a hobby—I use it purely for commuting.
Oscar Damo, 57, Gas Station Owner
I wake up early around 6:30 a.m. I live 4-5 km [2.5-3 miles] from here, and I come to work by car or motorcycle. I make sure to always arrive at work 10 minutes early to be punctual opening my gas station.
Cristina Martinez Arroyo, 59, Real Estate Agent
Oh, what I would like is to be able to go to work walking everyday, since I love to go for a walk. And here in the Canary Islands the benign weather allows one to do this most of the year. … Since I’m a real estate agent, I have to visit several clients and properties that are scattered. And because of that, my job is not of the kind in which once you get to it, you stay there the whole day. So for these reasons and going a little bit against my will, I come to work everyday by car.
Daeyeol Lee, 24, Journalism Student
I go to my university by subway every day. It takes me one and a half hours to get there and the same back, so I travel three hours every day. Seoul is a big city and it’s expensive so I can’t move closer, I have to stay with my parents.
Alice Kearse, 23, Lawyer
Generally I walk to work. It only takes me between 15 and 20 minutes, and I live in the city center so it’s the easiest way of getting there. If I’m running late, I will either take a tram or ride my bike, depending on what I’m wearing, and if I need to carry anything with me. I love the freedom of either walking or cycling past cars that are sitting in traffic; it puts me in a good mood for the rest of the day.
Kym Walls, 47, Disability Caregiver
I drive. I’m a shift worker, so I have to drive because there is no public transport, but I wouldn’t rely on that anyway, being a shift worker. I work out the back of Nambour. I don’t have to go through any main traffic areas to get to my place of work. My hours are usually out of peak hour time anyway so it’s pretty good; I finish at eight at night so I don’t have any traffic coming home.
Zuzana Bartóková, 26, Cashier
My morning commute using the city mass transport is quite pleasing, although it takes almost one hour of my time, despite my living and working in the same city, Bratislava [Slovakia capital]. First I use a bus and then a tram, together switching them three times. It becomes worse during the summer vacation when the roads are being fixed and sometimes I need to change the means of transport even more than three times. The good thing is that I meet a lot of known and unknown people during my commute, people I would probably never meet otherwise.
Mario Miranda, 28, Production Engineering Student
I used to go to work on my motorcycle, because I live far from the urban center and far from my workplace. Recently though, my motorcycle was stolen from in front of the house of a friend of mine, so now I have to take the bus. Going [to work] by motorcycle would take about 40 minutes. … The bus takes me about two hours mainly because of the very intense traffic jams in the city of São Paulo.
Buck Merritt, 24, Warehouse Manager
Currently, the R train, so, subway. Less than half a mile [of walking].
Look for the Global Q&A column every week. The Epoch Times correspondents interview people around the world to learn about their lives and perspectives on local and global realities. Next week’s global question: “Does your country have any sport or pastime that’s not well known elsewhere?”
