Commuters on the New York City Subway during rush hour.

Rush hour at Shinjuku Station, Yamanote Line

Traffic jam in Baltimore, Maryland

Commuting is regular travel between one's place of residence and place of work or full time study. It sometimes refers to any regular or often repeated traveling between locations when not work related.

History[link]

The word commuter derives from early days of rail travel in US cities such as New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Chicago, where, in the 1840s, the railways engendered suburbs from which travellers paying a reduced or 'commuted' fare into the city. Later, the back formations "commute" and "commuter" were coined therefrom. Commuted tickets would usually allow the traveller to repeat the same journey as often as they liked during the period of validity: Normally, the longer the period the cheaper the cost per day.^[1]

Before the 19th century, most workers lived less than an hour's walk from their work. Today, many people travel daily to work a long way from their own towns, cities, and villages, especially in industrialised societies. Depending on factors such as the high cost of housing in city centres, lack of public transit, and traffic congestion, modes of travel may include automobiles, motorcycles, trains, aircraft, buses, and bicycles.

Suburbs[link]

Commuting has had a large impact on modern life. It has allowed cities to grow to sizes that were previously not practical, and it has led to the proliferation of suburbs. Many large cities or conurbations are surrounded by commuter belts, also known as metropolitan areas, commuter towns, dormitory towns, or bedroom communities. The prototypical commuter lives in one of these areas and travels daily to work or to school in the core city.

As urban sprawl pushes farther and farther away from central business districts, new businesses can appear in outlying cities, leading to the existence of the reverse commuter who lives in a core city but works in the suburbs, and to a type of secondary commuter who lives in a more distant exurb and works in the outlying city or industrial suburb.

Education[link]

Institutions that have few dormitories or low student housing populations are called commuter schools in the United States.

Traffic[link]

Most commuters travel at the same time of day, resulting in the morning and evening rush hours, with congestion on roads and public transport systems not designed or maintained well enough to cope with the peak demands. As an example, Interstate 405 located in Southern California, is one of the busiest freeways in the United States. Commuters may sit up to two hours in traffic during rush hour. Construction or accidents on the freeway distract and slow down commuters, contributing to even longer delays.

Pollution[link]

The suburbs in the United States and elsewhere tend to have less air pollution than their neighboring inner cities, even though more workers in the inner cities use public transport. Some governments and employers have introduced employee travel reduction programs that encourage such alternatives as car-pooling and telecommuting. Some are also carpooling using Internet sites to save money.^[2] Alternatives like personal rapid transit have also been proposed to reap the energy-efficiency benefits of a mass transit system while maintaining the speed and convenience of individual transport.

Cars not carrying passengers use fuel and roads less efficiently than shared cars or public transport, and increase traffic congestion. However,alone by car is often a more efficient method for people doing so, as their travel times tend to be lower. Commuting by car is a major factor contributing to air pollution. Carpool lanes help commuters reach their destinations more quickly, encourage people to drive together, and reduce air pollution.

See also[link]

• Short Commute Vehicle

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Commuting

Look up commuting in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• US Commuting Averages (2002)
• Some Commuters are travelling from France to London
• Platform 11 - Ireland's National Rail Commuter Group
• Identifying the 12 types of drivers during a work commute

Ryan Leech (born February 20, 1979 in British Columbia, Canada) is a professional trials mountain bike rider. At age 14 he began racing cross-country mountain bikes, inspired by Team ORB. Leech began getting increasingly involved in trials riding throughout the mid 90's. At age 16 Leech became one of the youngest trials event organizers ever after he organized and won a competition which he held in his front yard. In the spring of 1996 Leech joined Team ORB which subsequently changed into The Norco Factory Team in 1998. At age 24 Leech married Caryn Tressel. He has performed in many events across North America and has made appearances in many different mountain biking films including: The Kranked Series, Ride to the Hills, The Collective and Roam, among many others. In 2004 Leech produced and starred in his own film: Manifesto where he attempted to transform trials riding by eliminating setup and recovery hops. In late 2005, Leech released his DVD Mastering the Art of Trials, which was an instructional compilation of 38 trials related skills. He still remains active in the mountain biking community, although no longer competitively. In 2006, Leech created a school program called Trials of Life, a presentation that essentially combines his regular action trials show with an inspirational message oriented toward children. The core of the message boils down to listening to your heart. In 2007, Leech finished filming for his new film, Crux. The film features riders such as Thomas Ohler, Dylan Korba, and Leech himself. Crux is a follow up to his last film, Manifesto.

External links[link]

• Official website
• Trials of Life - Ryan School Presentation
• Ryan Leech's Norco Team Website
• Ryan Leech's New DVD, Crux
• West Coast Style DVD

Ceephax Acid Crew is a British acid techno and drum and bass electronic musician named Andy Jenkinson. Jenkinson is also known simply by the pseudonym Ceephax, which is a pun on the BBC teletext service Ceefax. He is the brother of Squarepusher (Tom Jenkinson).

Music and Career[link]

Ceephax's music from 1997 to 2002 and beyond used mainly vintage (especially Roland) drum machines and synthesizers such as the TB-303. This music was often recorded onto a cassette tape deck. The music was released on vinyl records and cassette tape on underground labels such as Breakin' Records, Lo Recordings and Firstcask. This primitive Acid House aesthetic and methodology countered the growing popularity of the computer music and compact disc releases of the time. Rephlex Records and Warp Records also released remixes of Squarepusher by Ceephax around this time.

From 2003 onwards as well as his more typical Acid style he has also released drum and bass songs made on old samplers, a Commodore Amiga and various early digital synthesizers, again displaying an interest in late 1980s and early 1990s dance music. His set on Mary Anne Hobb's show Breezeblock in 2003 and more recent tracks such as "Castilian" and "Arcadian" also indicate an interest in Chiptune music.

From 2007 he has had full releases on the Rephlex and Planet Mu record labels, his latest album from 2010 named "United Acid Emirates". He also continues to release on Firstcask and other small independent labels such as WéMè, Bugklinik and his own label Waltzer.

Ceephax is popular amongst some electronic music fans for his live performances. Ceephax's shows are set apart from the popular Laptop style of "live" electronic performance by exclusively using only analogue and early digital equipment and occasionally an Amiga computer. These sets range from old school house, acid house, techno, drum and bass and gabber all in Ceephax's distinctive style.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• (FSK005) with Drive Time bonus cassette - Firstcask (2000)
• Exidy Tours (as Ceephax) - Firstcask (2003)
• Ceephax Acid Crew - Breakin' Records (2003)
• Ceephax Acid Crew Part One - Breakin' Records (2003)
• Ceephax Acid Crew Part Two - Breakin' Records (2003)
• Ceephax Presents "Acid Travelator" - Funbox Records (2006)
• Volume One - Rephlex Records (2007)
• Volume Two - Rephlex Records (2007)
• Drive Time LP (as Ceephax) - Firstcask (2008)
• Ceeland - Waltzer (2009)
• United Acid Emirates - Planet Mu (2010)
• Live - WALTZER (2011)

EPs and singles[link]

• Radiotin EP - Breakin' Records (1998)
• Bainted Smile EP - Breakin' Records (1998)
• Acid Quakers 1000 (as Ceephax) - Lo Recordings (2000)
• Acid Legacy EP - Breakin' Records (2003)
• Hardcore Wick/Acid Varsity Speciale - Firstcask (2006)
• Hardcore Esplanade - Bug Klinik Records (2006)
• The Crisp Chronicles - WeMe Records (2006)
• Ceerial Port EP - Firstcask (2006)
• Megalift EP - Planet Mu (2007)
• Wild Westie - Kitchen Dweller Records (2008)
• Psychtapolis - WeMe Records (2010)
• The Unstoppable Phax Machine - 030303 Records (2011)

MP3s[link]

• Ceephax Acid Crew Live @ WMF Club, Berlin, 1.25.01 - Live Bootleg encoded by CBrown (2001)
• Ceephax live on Mary Anne Hobbs's Breezeblock show on BBC 1 - Various bootlegs. (2004)
• Various - www.ceephax.co.uk (2005)
• Ceephax Acid Crew Live on Resonance 104.4 fm - Live Bootleg recorded 18 April (2005)

Remixes[link]

• "Every Time Mix" and "Tarzan Mix" on Remixes 12" (1998)
• "Ceephax Mix" on Selection Sixteen by Squarepusher (1999)
• "Sho U Rite (Ceephax Remix)" on Kerrier District 2 (2006)

Soundtracks[link]

• "Here We Go Again" - Shot List (2009)

External links[link]

• Ceephax's website
• Ceephax's MySpace page.
• Interview with TMF prior to release of United Acid Emirates
• Interview with Bleep prior to release of United Acid Emirates