please empty your brain below
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I use Citymapper for occasional trips, but test out different routes when I start a new job, phone stopwatch to hand.
I've had colleagues who have worked in places for years, but didn't realise they were taking a slow, busy, inconvenient tube route. They also didn't seem to care that they were walking all the way down the end of one platform to get on a tube, only to walk most of the way back down at their interchange. Yet they think I'm the odd one.
Peter of London | 11.05.19 - 8:03 a.m. | #
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When I first lived in London in 1966, my then girlfriend had a little book called (I think) the Tubecheater. This contained advice on which carriage door to leave the train by at each platform on each line so as to be nearest the required platform exit. All her friends had one too. If it's still published (and updated) I recommend it.
dg writes:
Way Out Tube Map, £1.95 (2003).
Station Master app, £3.99, (2013)
Ian | 11.05.19 - 8:57 a.m. | #
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During a holiday job, many years ago, I had to travel between North London and Waterloo. The quickest and cheapest was by Northern Line, but by far the most interesting route used Drain and Train, via Broad Street. I quite often made that choice. So for me (even now) it's not always about time and price.
Malcolm | 11.05.19 - 9:45 a.m. | #
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On the calculation of a cycle trip, one ought to factor in the time between when one would walk out of the front door and add time for getting the bike out, sorting out any associated clobber and actually being ready to set off. Then there is the time to park it and lock up (or fold up) at the destination. This could level out the short hop from Bow to Stratford with the DLR and bus time, but the bike comes with the advantage of no uncertainty about waiting times, and no additional cost at the time of travel.
NickW | 11.05.19 - 9:54 a.m. | #
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Cycling assumes that your bike is still there when you get back. Of course theres the expensive Santander Cycles option.
dg writes: The hire bike network doesn't stretch as far as Stratford station.
Andrew Jarman | 11.05.19 - 11:58 a.m. | #
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I was pondering this last week as I travelled from WC1 to Camden Town by bus. The conclusion I came to was the bus saves you from walking and if you're lucky you might get there quicker. I take fewer buses than I used to. Obviously for older people or those with luggage/ children the decisions will be different.
On the other hand the fact that 5 minutes can be considered a long wait for a bus should perhaps mean we should count ourselves lucky in London.
Lorenzo | 11.05.19 - 12:17 p.m. | #
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And other factors affect choice of transport too. Eg if its raining, I choose a dry 20 min door-to-door tube commute as opposed to a 10 min cycle (although that can be offset if the destination is somewhere you can keep a spare change of clothes). And vice versa as people may choose a longer lower speed option like cycling/walking for fitness purposes/preference.
Marco | 11.05.19 - 12:44 p.m. | #
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The elephant in the room is that there are far too many traffic signals, and they are far too inflexible.
Many could be replaced by give way signs / mini-roundabouts / pedestrian crossings.
Similarly, many of those that remained could offer Left Turn on Red or the US-style flashing red / flashing amber at quiet times.
Gerry | 11.05.19 - 12:59 p.m. | #
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We now know how long it takes to get from Bow Church to Stratford by a variety of methods of transport.
I'd wager that it took you longer to write this post than it did to make one of those journeys. But how much quicker is it to create this post on a computer than to write it down with pen and paper? Is the internet quicker than a carrier pigeon and by how much? I suspect the quickest method would be to read out the information into an audio recorder.
Gary Denness | Homepage | 11.05.19 - 2:39 p.m. | #
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Gerry: Many traffic lights and road signs could actually be replaced by ... nothing at all.
Tim W | 11.05.19 - 4:39 p.m. | #
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For any non-trivial journey, my default is always to use the Underground. That is doubtless biased by growing up in inner London, commuting by Underground to secondary schools and commuting to work for several decades at least partially by Underground. It's also biased as someone who grew up north of the river and has always worked north of the river despite living to the south in recent decades. These days I would probably cater for south-of-the-river by defaulting to Overground or National Rail to fill the Undergroud gaps. I certainly walk and nip on buses for shorter journeys, and use National Rail for longer journeys, but the Underground remains my natural choice.
DavidC | 11.05.19 - 5:08 p.m. | #
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Gerry and Tim W - you have forgotten pedestrians. We're not all agile to leap between vehicles making uncontrolled turns.
What we need is more bus priority (and better enforcement of it), but keeping controlled crossings / junctions.
Joel | 11.05.19 - 7:08 p.m. | #
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Nope, Joel, I specifically included pedestrian crossings: no problem if they're Puffins. Roundabouts are often far more efficient (and far cheaper) than crossroads with conventional traffic signals, but they must not disadvantage pedestrians with impaired sight or mobility.
What needs to be eliminated are all the unnecessary vehicle delays caused by junction signals that slowly plod all the way through a long fixed cycle just to let a solitary vehicle enter from the minor road, often including an all-red phase even when there are no pedestrians around or they have already crossed without waiting for the green man.
Gerry | 11.05.19 - 7:47 p.m. | #
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