From Transit to Trail: One Commuter’s Daily Journey

On a Friday in July, SCCTD had the opportunity to follow along with a St. Louis resident, Lena N., who lives in the City of St. Louis and uses a combination of public transit and bicycling to reach her place of employment, TWM, Inc., in Swansea, Illinois. Lena has worked for TWM for a few years and while she has not personally worked on engineering and design projects involving SCCTD MetroBikeLink trails, she now benefits from her firm’s work with the St. Clair County Transit District to build those trails by making use of some parts of the MetroBikeLink trail system to commute to her office in Swansea.

Originally from New Jersey, Lena got her start bike commuting while in college. It’s a habit that has stayed with her over the years and when she accepted the role with TWM, she felt that the opportunity to commute by transit and biking was an added bonus. “If the trails are there, I’m going to do it,” says Lena, before launching into a description of her commute that sees her biking from her home to the Civic Center MetroLink Station, boarding an east bound MetroLink train for a 40-minute ride to Swansea, where she then meets up with a coworker who lives in Swansea to ride to the office together.

Lena acknowledges that commuting this way takes longer than it would if she instead chose to drive to the office. The tradeoff for her, however, is twofold- the longer commute allows her to spend time outdoors and to check out and engage in a hobby like crocheting, listening to podcasts, or even checking her email so she’s prepared for her day when she walks in the office door. When asked what she has gained by choosing to commute in this way, she mentions having built a community within her coworkers. When she began working for TWM, she would talk to others about commuting by bike and she eventually convinced at least 3 other people to occasionally or regularly join her in commuting via transit and bike.

Lena’s favorite part of her commute is a portion near the intersection of Munie Road with the SCCTD Old Collinsville Road Trail- it’s there she has seen wildlife like possums, groundhogs, birds, and more, which, as a city resident, is a fun sight for her to see. While her commute has not been impacted by recent SCCTD MetroBikeLink additions or improvements, she is happy to see the system continue expanding and growing as that will hopefully enable more people to explore an active commute like hers.

For anyone looking to incorporate transit, biking, or both, into their work commute, Lena’s suggestion is to plan out your route in advance and use free time to perform a dry run of your commute. Resources like Google Maps are fantastic for planning in advance, but sometimes, real life can be different and giving yourself time to address any discrepancies between what you saw online and what you experience in real life is crucial so you are not frantically trying to figure out an alternative on a day when you have to be at your place of employment by a set time.

“My earbuds,” says Lena when asked what the one item she cannot leave home without is. “Sometimes I’ll listen to music while I’m bike riding, or I’ll listen to a podcast on the train.”

Once we reach the Swansea MetroLink Station, we follow Lena as she collects her bike from where she’s stashed it at the front of the train car and make our way out onto the platform and to the parking lot where her coworker is waiting on his own bike. Together, the two begin the final leg of their journey, riding a combination of local streets and SCCTD MetroBikeLink trails to TWM’s Swansea office.

Watching the routine unfold makes it clear that with a little planning and the right infrastructure, commuting by transit and bike can become more than just a way to get to work- it can be an enjoyable part of the day that allows you to relax and unwind before and after work. For Lena, the trip offers time to be active, connect with coworkers, and experience the region from a different perspective. As SCCTD works to continue expanding the MetroBikeLink system, more commuters will have the opportunity to discover the same benefits and consider leaving the car behind for all or part of their daily commute.

To learn more about the SCCTD MetroBikeLink system, consisting of 40 miles of interconnecting trails throughout St. Clair County, visit www.scctd.org/metrobikelink.