Other Ways: Landscapes of Commuting

In this article we touch upon the intimate bond between commuters that grows (or, sometimes, does not grow) in their daily wayfinding. The commuter's movement through the world, once established, is a steady back and forth along well-worn paths. Each day the commuters need to recall their way into work, and from time to time their ways change due to congestion, road building, other places they have to go by along the way, or even just whim. The Habitable Cars project that we present here has been concerned with people travelling together as families, friends and car-sharers. In this paper we will present two video clips where the route itself is manifest as the problem for the occupants of a car. Offering and taking shortcuts sustains and makes manifest our intimacy with a place.