Reminds me of the occasional stories about people commuting into Manhattan by canoe/rowboat/paddleboard because they're fed up with the poor public transportation.
Something I've noticed more often these days is people commuting from New Jersey into Manhattan via electric scooter.
This is done by first going to Fort Lee, crossing the George Washington Bridge, then down the Hudson bike path to wherever their office is. They say it's faster and less stressful than doing the traditional bus or train + subway commute. I believe them.
There is also the financial benefit which is you get to avoid paying to cross the Hudson River, which is expensive whether you cross by car, bus, train, or ferry.
Granted even before electric scooters became common, you could do this via traditional bicycle. But you'd arrive at the office all sweaty, and most people don't have the luxury of being able to shower at the office, not to mention rampant bike theft. Plus there is an abomination of a steep hill going up to the outbound George Washington on your way back home.
When I lived in Philly, I first used the subway to get to work. But the commute became an oppressive reminder of daily inhumanity in the City of Brotherly Love. I had to make a change. So I tried biking to work, for two weeks. The next week I ordered an electric scooter. The scooter is smaller than a bike, more nimble, more portable. I would often overtake bikes on the flats, and it and moves up hills with ease. I carry it into the office and charge it at my desk. The ride to work and home is serene. Sometimes I stop along the water just to sit for a minute and enjoy some nature.
Now I'm a remote worker. I have a mild nostalgia for the ride home... no nostalgia for the subway. But if my office was somewhere with seasons, and I could paddle to work, I'd work weekends.
There was a guy that would commute into SF via a MASSIVE zodiac with (4) 600-HP engines and would do ~80MPH across the bay from Saucalito to the ferry building. He had a full time boat pilot, who he paid ~$100K/year (I asked) and he would make it from saucalito to SF in ~15 minutes.
He was a hedgie in FiDi...
As someone who has made the GGB commute all the way down to Sunnyvale for a time... I was super jealous of the fact this guy had that luxury.
I used to bike to work almost every day before working from home mostly. The key to not getting sweaty is to take it easy. You can leisurely bike, it is less effort than walking, and it isn't that much slower than biking with a lot of effort really. If you have a lot of hills or very hot weather this might not be enough and you should change undershirts at least, and at first it is hard to do if you are accustomed to putting in a lot of effort all the time. But it works better than you would expect.
The other part is to not wear a backpack and put it on a bike rack or in a basket, or just leave stuff in the office and drive or take the bus now and then if you need to drop off or pickup something bulky or heavy.
Something I've noticed more often these days is people commuting from New Jersey into Manhattan via electric scooter.
This is done by first going to Fort Lee, crossing the George Washington Bridge, then down the Hudson bike path to wherever their office is. They say it's faster and less stressful than doing the traditional bus or train + subway commute. I believe them.
There is also the financial benefit which is you get to avoid paying to cross the Hudson River, which is expensive whether you cross by car, bus, train, or ferry.
Granted even before electric scooters became common, you could do this via traditional bicycle. But you'd arrive at the office all sweaty, and most people don't have the luxury of being able to shower at the office, not to mention rampant bike theft. Plus there is an abomination of a steep hill going up to the outbound George Washington on your way back home.