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Commuter profiles

• Published April 03, 2007

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Bob Beckman

•Age: 57

•Resides in: Seattle

•Job: Assessment project program manager, Division of Developmental Disabilities, state Department of Social and Health Services, Lacey

•Family: wife, two grown children

•Commute route: Vanpool from Seattle to Lacey, 21/2 hours per day

•Commuting cost: $39 a month

Bob Beckman was offered a promotion two years ago that would move him from his home in Seattle to Lacey.

The family had only one car, so he looked into the cost of buying a commuter car. “I did the math. It was going to be $600 to $700 a month. I thought, that’s nuts.”

So he joined a vanpool, a ride-share program operated by Intercity Transit Authority. “It’s a very mellow way to do it. We share the driving,” he said.

IT does not track the number of vanpool riders, but according to 2005 census data, about 12 percent of commuters carpool. Beckman’s employer pays a portion of the cost, and Beckman earns $2 every time he drives, so he pays only $39 a month — a “super bargain,” he boasts.

As “van nanny,” Beckman brings the 12-person van to the north end of Boeing Field in Seattle at 6:30 a.m. and leaves six minutes later. The morning commute is about 50 minutes, the afternoon a bit longer.

Though Beckman spends around 12 hours a week commuting, he said it’s worth it. “We really like Seattle — the cultural amenities, the restaurant scene. We’re foodies, we like to try different restaurants. We left Eastern Washington to get into a more urban, more sophisticated (city),” he said.

Paul Flinton

•Age: 38

•Resides in: Olympia

•Job: Software developer for Microsoft, Redmond

•Family: Wife, 5-year-old son

•Commute route: Seattle to Redmond during work week; spends weekends in Olympia

•Commuting cost: $1,000 a month in mortgage payments for a condo in Seattle, plus $125 on gas

A 75-mile commute didn’t stop Paul Flinton of Olympia from accepting a job with Microsoft in Redmond last year. The job’s benefits and pay were too good to pass up, and he was looking for a career change from being a contractor to working in an office environment.