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Robyn Scott
Administrative Assistant |
Carpooler Robyn Scott has now been carpooling regularly for almost two years. She rides into work nearly every day from Lynnwood with her husband and one of his co-workers. Originally, the carpooling idea came from her husband who thought it’d be a good way to save gas money. Robyn was lucky enough to be included in the carpool even though it meant they had to make an extra stop in Bellevue. She has since started working in Redmond, which makes carpooling much easier for her carpool partners. While saving gas money was the original intention, Robyn says carpooling has had several other benefits as well. First, her commute time has decreased thanks to the ability to use the carpool lanes. Plus, she does not enjoy driving herself so she leaves the driving up to others. This helps her feel relaxed on the road, and it really helped during the snowstorms this winter. When everyone else was staying home from work, she was able to come in because one of her carpooling partners was an excellent foul-weather driver. |
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Corinna Bolender
Senior Program Manager |
Bicyclist Corinna Bolender has been a great advocate of bicycling both at Microsoft and throughout the region. She has been bicycling to work at Microsoft for more than five years now, and is the foremost advocate and face of the Microsoft bicycle program. Her leadership by example in making better transportation choices makes her an excellent choice for Commute Champion. |
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Billy O'Neal
Safety Coordinator |
Vanpool Driver Billy O'Neal comes all the way from Bremerton each day to Redmond, but he doesn’t need to do it alone. Billy has been a vanpool driver since 2001. After getting fed up with four months of mostly driving alone to work, Billy decided to look for others making a similar commute.
He found many eager commuters willing to join him, and now he loves the money saved by having gas and maintenance paid for. He saves lots of time too and notes that use of the HOV lanes in the afternoon is one of the greatest benefits of the vanpool. Finally, not having to use his own car for work has allowed him to offer his car to his daughter. Take note kids; parents in a vanpool may equal a car for you, if you’re lucky.
Billy encourages everyone to at least try a vanpool. “Once you do it, you’ll see it’s not so bad to ride with strangers. If you care about your personal finances, the environment, and not sitting in traffic, you should find some like-minded people and do it.” |
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Alan Merrihew
Director, Partner Technologies |
Bus Rider Alan Merrihew drove his car to work the first three weeks he worked at Microsoft. “It was insane.” He thought. But then a friend suggested the bus. This suggestion changed his life.
Alan has been riding the bus to and from work for five years now, and swears it has made a huge difference in his life and that he would “never go back to driving.”
Alan’s advocacy of riding the bus coincides with his use of today’s technology to make his commuting life a meaningful part of his day. “Riding the bus has become an extension of my office,” says Alan. He can work on his laptop, or can connect to the internet with his cell phone, often whittling down all his e-mails by the time he gets home.
He also uses his cell phone to check bus arrival times, so he never finds himself waiting and saying, “Where is the darned bus?”
Alan considers driving a “colossal waste of time.” By working on the bus, he arrives home with a “feeling of accomplishment” and ready to enjoy his personal time.
Alan is such a Champion that he even uses the bus to get to off site meetings, noting that he just doesn’t buy the argument that you need a car to get around. Alan offers up himself as a bus mentor for anyone who needs help. |
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Carol Brozman
Graphic Designer
Lake Wash. School District |
Vanpool Driver Carol Brozman moved here from Chicago ten years ago. When she moved to Monroe she joined a vanpool to shorten her commute and meet people in her new community. Her first vanpool was a success on both points. “We got together on the weekends and had parties.” Carol says she met and rode with over 27 different people over eight years. “We laughed and talked the whole ride.” Carol says riding in a vanpool offers a chance to unburden and debrief from your day before getting home. Vanpooling allows for team work and joint decision making, and “it does help with your time management skills.” Carol’s new van offers her another unique opportunity for self improvement. She walks 3-4 miles at the end of the day to meet her van, so she no longer needs to go to the gym. “It’s all positive,” she says. |
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Bob Stoik
Senior Sales Director
Nintendo |
Bicyclist Bob Stoik travels extensively in his job but still managed to bicycle to work more than 55 days last year. “I’m really into fitness, and so initially it was the fitness aspect of it--just staying in shape. Now, I’m getting two birds with one stone...I’m getting my exercise and avoiding that crazy commute from Sammamish. “ People at Nintendo make fun of Bob because he has this beautiful automobile which he never seems to drive. Bob also admits that the high gas prices help his motivation. Bicycling has become a way of ”saving a ton of money.” Bob once biked only in the summer or in nice weather, but now he has all the gear and bikes year-round. “On days when the traffic is bad I can actually bike home quicker and beat the traffic. Those are the days when I’m really excited about biking.” Bob considers the choice of employees to use a commute alternative as a career positive. “I think they have a lot of respect because part of being a good employee at any level is prioritizing your time, fitting everything in and making commitments.” |
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Richie Strong
Principal Engineer
Honeywell |
Bicyclist Richie Strong thinks that the best way to ‘drive alone’ to work is by bicycle. “I can’t think of another commute where you can ride four or five miles and not see another soul.” Richie’s commute is 15 miles along the Sammamish River Trail. He knows that parallel to him is the 405, but all that he really sees are the wildlife and the challenges presented by the elements. “Some days you can come to work and feel that nothing really got done, but because of my commute I always have a sense of accomplishment.” Richie has good advice for those of us who would like to try bicycling. but have lots of “can’ts.” “Break it up into things you can do. Pick a sunny day, or Bike to Work Day, when there are people out there to help if you need it.” He even suggests biking to work on a weekend day, just to try it out and find a good, safe route. “You’ll get such a great sense of achievement.” |
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John Wiltshire
Mgr. of Technical Publications
Astronics |
Vanpool Driver John Wiltshire began vanpooling 15 years go, mostly to reduce mileage on his personal vehicle from his 48-mile roundtrip commute to work. His vanpool now has 5 full-time riders and 4 half-time from two different companies. They use email to coordinate. “That was really important when we had the early dismissals because of the weather.” John regards his initial objections to vanpooling as ancient history. “...Pretty much had to use a crowbar to get me in there. Now, I’m a big advocate of vanpooling. Vanpooling is probably the most efficient way...you come pretty much directly to and from work just like you would if you were driving your car.” John’s found a lot of benefits to vanpooling, not the least of which is his nearly 4-year old truck that only has 20,000 miles on it. John Wiltshire has just been appointed the Employee Transportation Coordinator for Astronics. Astronics employees may have a few crowbar sightings soon. |
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Cindi Gyselinck
Program
Coordinator
Greater
Redmond TMA |
Bus Rider and Carpooler Cindi Gyselinck has, for the last 12 years, spent every workday trying to communicate, market, encourage and persuade people to use an alternative commute mode to get to work. But Cindi also walks the talk. For the last 20+ years she has been carpooling with her husband, Will. Cindi admits it was easier when they worked at the same company, but that was more than 8 years ago. Now, she takes the bus or walks everyday to meet her husband to keep their carpool. Cindi admits “I hate to drive,” but she loves the money they’ve saved all these years. |
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