UAE | Traffic and Transport

Suited, booted and ready to board

Neil Joneja is not a skater. In fact, he has never even skateboarded before. But this 29 year-old Canadian engineer is determined to ride a board to work.

  • By Marten Youssef, Staff Reporter
  • Published: 01:15 February 21, 2008
  • Gulf News

  • Chairman of the board Abu Dhabi resident Neil Joneja's commute takes only five minutes, thanks to his skateboard.
  • Image Credit: Ravindranath/Gulf News
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Abu Dhabi: Neil Joneja is not a skater. In fact, he has never even skateboarded before. But this 29 year-old Canadian engineer is determined to ride a board to work.

Dressed in a designer suit, tie, Armani glasses and carrying a laptop bag, Joneja is not your average commuter. He has decided to be creative in his daily commute.

Although his work is only a 15-minute walk from home, Joneja says: "This will cut down my commute by 10 minutes."

While his wife Colleen, a Canadian teacher working in Abu Dhabi, has a car, Neil decided that another car just for a 15 minute commute wouldn't make sense. "It's faster than waiting for a taxi," he says of his board.

The unconventional idea of boarding to work came about when one of Joneja's friends suggested. Less than a week later, he was shopping around for a board.

Joneja holds his board up proudly and says, "Dh190." The board gives him the flexibility to ride through alleys and back roads in the shade of skyscrapers and gets him to work in less than five minutes.

The cool breeze of this season makes skateboarding to work pleasant, but come April, when the temperatures will rise to 40 degrees, plans might change.

"I am not there yet," he says. "My wife is going to Canada for the summer so I will likely use her car."

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