“How We Roll” celebrates Metro Transit employees who commute and travel to many other destinations using transit or by biking, walking or carpooling.
Bruce Howard, Director-Marketing and Transit Information
How do you get to work?
Most days I take the Route 825 from New Brighton to downtown Minneapolis and then take light rail or routes 5 or 22 for the final leg of the journey to Heywood. Occasionally, I ride Northstar from Fridley, and a couple times a year I bike certain legs of the journey. The great thing about transit is there’s always another option that gets you where you need to go.
What do you enjoy most about your commute?
For my job, it’s valuable to see and experience what our customers experience firsthand. I watch how riders interact with operators, listen to questions they ask other riders, overhear their conversations about our service or promotions. And as we can’t control the weather, waiting at a stop in the cold, rain or extreme heat with them is valuable to informing the decisions we make.
On that note, I try to make sure I ride our system on the hottest day of the year and the coldest day of the year. It ensures that I personally understand what riders experience and how our system performs when weather conditions are at their worst.
How do you get around outside of your commute?
When I’m working, I try to use transit to get to off-site meetings. It’s amazing how many places our system can get you if you don’t mind combining a little walking with your transit trip. At home, I’m trying to cut down on my car trips by biking and walking more. And my son has me riding his hoverboard. I’m not sure if it’s the most efficient mode of travel, but it can be fun!