July 25, 2002
Rocks, cracks in the sidewalk and unyielding motorists are Kristina Paquette's biggest hazards on her commute from West Springfield to the Springfield-Franconia metro station. A trick she's learned is leaning back on the back wheel of her scooter, shifting her weight to the three-inch polyurethane wheel that she relies on as her mode of transportation.
"The rocks and bumps," she said, pointing to the uneven cement at the base of the pedestrian ramp over I-95, "you hit a bump like that and it will scrape the bottom and stop. People don't stop for me sometimes when I have the 'walk' light."
She doesn't let the mishaps stop her though. Paquette has been commuting by scooter for over two years, at first from her home in Arlington, and now Springfield. Barring rain and snow, she does it all year and likes the freedom as well as the exercise. It also improves her mood that day at work, something she noticed after driving one day.
"There's a huge difference," she said.
PAQUETTE WORKS as a chemist for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration at McPherson Square in Washington, D.C. She has a flexible schedule and tries to work it out so she is riding the scooter in daylight.
One of her co-workers from Silver Spring introduced her to the scooter commute.
"She let me try it out," Paquette said.
She goes 3.5 miles each way in Springfield, and gets encouragement from the motorists as much as inattention. In the instruction manual, commuting is listed as one of the main purposes of the scooters.
"I mostly see kids; people think it's a kid thing," she said.
As a child, she grew up in Kansas where she rode skateboards a little and bikes, but not scooters.
Julie Spivey, station supervisor for the Fairfax Connection buses, sees Paquette every day at the station.
"She goes vrrrooom!, she's gone. I see her every day, she gets the good exercise every morning," Spivey said.
Franconia resident Mary Rice sees a couple of scooters coming to the station.
"I have seen two guys on scooters. I don't think it's for me, I carry too much," she said.
Anthony McNair commutes to the station by bicycle ever since he had problems with his license and the Division of Motor Vehicles. He locks it at the station on the racks which is designed so each wheel can be locked as well, which he likes.
"I live five miles and have been biking here for three weeks. I actually get there about 45 minutes early, I have a lot more energy," he said.
Upon arrival after the 20-30 minute ride, Paquette just folds up the handlebars and carries it on the train, storing it under the seat for the ride. She's seen another scooter commuter in D.C. and talked to one person who was from California where they are a common sight on the commuter scene. Paquette wasn't sure exactly where in California though. Los Angeles has a lot of traffic and San Francisco has too many hills, she thought.
IT HASN'T ALWAYS been smooth sailing for Paquette though. She had one bad accident at McPherson Square and another on a patch of ice along the trail. After the fall at McPherson Square where she landed on her face, she arrived at work with a few scrapes.
"It [her face] was all scraped, big raspberries. People couldn't look at me. The dress I had on that day, not a rip, not a tear. I rode home that afternoon," she said.
Her optimism showed when remembering the ice.
"I hit a patch of ice, fortunately I didn't hit my face that