As road construction snarls traffic across the metro, there’s never been a better time to try alternatives to driving. However, it can feel daunting to try taking transit or riding a bike when these options aren’t familiar, especially because complaints about missing a bus or riding on a dangerous street tend to stand out more in your memory than when things go smoothly.
With this in mind, I’d like to propose the transportation version of Meatless Monday (wherein you forgo meat one day a week as a low-barrier way to reduce your meat consumption), which I’m calling Motorless Monday, or Transit Tuesday. The idea is the same: One day a week, try to take your trips by transit and/or biking instead of driving to reduce your car use and get the hang of other transportation modes.
If you’re interested but unsure where to start, here are a few tips and resources.
Trip Planning
- Check out Metro Transit’s How to Ride page to answer any questions you may have about using the bus, light rail or other services.
- Download the Metro Transit app or buy a Go-To card to easily pay your fare, or see if your employer is part of the Metropass program for unlimited monthly rides.
- Download the Transit app, which has excellent trip-planning features not only for transit, but also for biking or a combination of biking, transit and walking. By default, the combined trips show bikeshare bikes, but you can change this — and your default biking speed! — by going to Settings > Two Wheels. Metro Transit provides the Royale service for everyone in the region, which means you can access all the premium features of the app at no additional cost.
- If you’re biking, test your route on a day when you don’t have to be anywhere, or leave yourself lots of time in case you encounter navigation mishaps or ride more slowly than you anticipated.
- If you’re worried about loading your bike onto a bus, Metro Transit has step-by-step instructions and recommends practicing by putting your bike on a bus during a less-busy time.
- Move Minneapolis has excellent information about bike commuting, including a Pedal Pals program that matches you with someone who can help you plan and test out your bike commute.
What to Wear and What to Pack
Determine what you need for your day and how to pack it when you don’t have your car as a portable storage locker of sorts. Here’s my approach for each mode:
- Biking (on my own power): I wear weather-appropriate athletic clothes because I have a 7-mile commute and am bad at pacing myself to avoid getting sweaty, but with a shorter commute or slower pace I would just wear my work clothes. I pack up my pannier with employee badge, keys, lip balm, lunch/snacks, coffee (I’ve had a Zojirushi for nearly 10 years and it’s never leaked! These may be affected by state PFAS regulations and tariffs, but I still recommend them) and laptop, as well as a change of clothes, toiletries/makeup and camp towel so I can get ready in the locker room at the office. I typically keep some work-friendly shoes at my desk to change into following my ride, or if I want shoes that I wear outside of work, I pack those as well.
- E-biking: I’ll wear my work outfit, with added layers as needed for the weather. For example, when it’s cold I layer up more than if I’m riding my acoustic bike because I’m not working as hard and therefore don’t get as warm. I pack my backpack with just the food, coffee and laptop and put it in my panniers.
- Transit: Same as e-biking, with the addition of my Kobo Libra for a little reading time on the train. If it’s cold or rainy/snowy, I’ll wear boots or waterproof sneakers and change into other shoes at the office. If I’m planning to bike home, I’ll pack the same as if I’m just taking transit but will also bring athletic clothes for the return.
- Non-work outings: Packing to bike for non-work outings is a bit easier. I’ll bring my pannier or a fanny pack/belt bag depending on how much I need to carry (and I strongly recommend a Trash Bag Wastebasket for the latter if you can get your hands on one; it appears a restock is planned for July). I always have a lock (I recommend Kryptonite), and the rest varies by trip. For groceries, the library or a small shopping trip, it’s just my pannier and lock; for dinner or drinks with friends, I’ll opt for a fanny pack to carry my phone, keys and wallet.
If I need extra space for layers or for my contributions to a party spread, I’ll bring my pannier or ask my partner to carry things for me (though YMMV with this strategy). I’ve also accepted that sometimes I’ll need to change some article of clothing upon arrival at my destination, or just look like a dork in rigid-soled bike shoes at the brewery.
If you’re worried about inclement weather, I wrote a few tips in 2019 for what to wear when it rains. My only edit now is that in warmer weather, I’d recommend wearing ultra-stylish wraparound sunglasses like these, or I’ve had my eye on something here, rather than full-on goggles. (Note: I don’t own anything from either brand, but know a lot of cyclists and runners who do!)
There will always be some trial and error to figure out what works best for you. I still make mistakes in packing, and there’s gear I want and haven’t yet invested in, but I hope this is a helpful starting point. Happy riding!
All photos by Alicia Valenti