One less car on the road

For the past four years Raymond Aten, Ph.D., a research scientist in obstetrics and gynecology, has commuted to work from his home in Hamden on a bicycle. The state of Connecticut recently named him Commuter of the Month for his example. “It's sort of an ideal commute,” Dr. Aten says of his four-mile, 15-minute trip from the Whitneyville section of Hamden. “I can make it in about the same time as someone driving.” Dressed in shorts, T-shirt, helmet and goggles equipped with a rear-view mirror, Dr. Aten carries in his saddlebags a change of clothes, paperwork, a spare inner tube, reflective gear for night driving and a laptop computer. He rides his bicycle to work year-round, regardless of the weather. “It's one less car on the road,” says Dr. Aten, who is president of the Connecticut Bicycle Coalition.