Various commuting methods, and their times

davis

I woke up late today and ended up driving in. My commute is comparatively short, and through rural countryside, but I was still kept waiting for a lorry to turn round when I could have easily nipped through on my bike, and this made me to wondering about the most practical transport options, using average reasonable times:

Cycling: 7 miles, 28 minutes (don't laugh; there's a big hill in the way)
Driving: 7 miles, 18 minutes this morning, probably about average
Walking: 6 miles, 2 hours from memory, it was through fields and it damn near broke the dog
Public transport (bus): ~11 miles, 90 minutes, and minimum spend 5 GBP each way with free depression and still involving a bit of a trudge (there are various options, but very few get me to work by 9am)

I know this is a short commute, but cycling still represents a reasonable option for me, even in traffic-free countryside.
What options does everyone else have? Is cycling the most practical way for most of you?

Porgy

davis wrote:

I woke up late today and ended up driving in. My commute is comparatively short, and through rural countryside, but I was still kept waiting for a lorry to turn round when I could have easily nipped through on my bike, and this made me to wondering about the most practical transport options, using average reasonable times:

Cycling: 7 miles, 28 minutes (don't laugh; there's a big hill in the way)
Driving: 7 miles, 18 minutes this morning, probably about average
Walking: 6 miles, 2 hours from memory, it was through fields and it damn near broke the dog
Public transport (bus): ~11 miles, 90 minutes, and minimum spend 5 GBP each way with free depression and still involving a bit of a trudge (there are various options, but very few get me to work by 9am)

I know this is a short commute, but cycling still represents a reasonable option for me, even in traffic-free countryside.
What options does everyone else have? Is cycling the most practical way for most of you?

Do you take your dog to work with you?

lost_in_thought

Cycling - 7 miles, about 25 minutes on average I guess.
Tube - same distance, 15 minutes walking, 20 minutes tube, 5 minutes walking
Driving - god knows. I wouldn't.
Walking - see driving!

Unfortunately this is only for when I'm in London and have to go into the office, which hasn't been the case since November.

Aidy

My only really viable methods are by bike and by train.

There's not much difference in time, although with the additional winter faff factor, trains are probably a shade faster.

flamite

i prefer to think of it as bed to desk time...

cycling is 60 minutes, can get out of bed at 8ish and be at my desk by 9... 10 mile commute...

to be at my desk by 9 on tube have to get up at about 7.15/7.30... more like 80/90 minutes

Aidy

flamite wrote:

i prefer to think of it as bed to desk time...

Ah, that's another factor - the bed to desk time is pretty much the same no matter what time I get out of bed, trains don't appear to leave at a time of my choosing. I still don't see why not.

Bikequin

For me its about an 8 mile commute.

Cycling - 30 mins but then I need a shower when I get to the office and at minimum involves a 30 min trip to the gym on the way in. So probably takes me 1hr 30min for both ways

Tube - 45 miinutes inclduing walk at either end 1 hr 30min each way (and in the summer I could probably do wth a shower on the way in!!)

Car - No where to park.

Walk - I'd be better off sleeping in the office.

So cycling is a bit of a no brainer- the only problem is nights like tnohgt when I'm going out straight from work so have had to get the tube.

Roastie

My options:
1. Bike + train: 20 mins on bike + 1hr on train + 15 mins on bike - approx £640pm season ticket or (given that is stupid expensive and I only go in 3 days a week anyways) a minimum of around $40 a day (~480pm) depending how it is booked.

2. Car: Anywhere between 1:20 and 3h journey time (average around 1:40) - direct cost, approx. £20 per day (£240pm)

3. Bike only: Estimated reasonable journey time of 6-7h each way. Cost would be quite high I suspect, for food, etc.

Of these options, the train + bike is a clear winner in terms of general sanity and well being, but thanks to stupidly expensive rail, this is just not an option, so I'm stuck in a stupid metal box for far too many hours.

Thankfully I get at least one proper bike commute a week (like today ), and I do a virtual commute on the days when I work at home.

Porgy

cycling: 14 miles, 70 minutes
walking 14 miles - ages - never tried it.
driving 14 miles - for ever as I have no car. though if I had a car probably about 60/70 mins - plus nowhere to park at work - I'd have to park 3/4 miles away from work and get a bus/ tube - and there's congestion charge.
train - requires walk of 20 minutes; train journey of 30 minutes and tube, a further 15/20 minutes - total: 65/ 70 minutes
bus / DLR / tube - about 90 / 100 minutes

Agent57

Cycling - 5.2 miles, about 23 minutes on average
Bus - same distance. No idea, but I'd need at least 2 buses, and some walking; I estimate an hour or more
Driving - same distance, takes my wife about 35 minutes to do 2.5 miles in the morning, and that's less than the first half of my route
Walking - same distance, about 90 minutes I reckon

Cycling's easily the fastest option for me. See my video on YouTube, Bike vs. Car for an idea as to why the bike is faster (that's the first 2 miles or so of my commute, but usually I use the cycle route).

iPete

Cycling: 1hr 10, 16.9 miles, London traffic is killer.
Train: Including walking, door to door is about 1hr 20
Drive: Wouldn't dare, roughly 1hr 30-2 hours+ depending on traffic.
Walk: No chance! Google says 5hrs 15

So if I can shower in sub 10 minutes, the bike is quickest

coopster_the_1st

My options:

1. Car - 19 miles - Takes anywhere between 40 & 75 minutes including upto a 10 minute walk from where I can park the car near work.

2. Bike - 17.5 miles - 70 mins to work. 80 minutes home.

3. Walking - 17.5 miles - Would take around 4.5 hours

Car wins on overall commute time but get frustrated stop-starting in traffic. Use the bike as often as the weather allows and the extra time on the bike replaces the time I would have spent in the gym so overall this gives me more time to do other things. Also saves on gym membership although this cost has now been replaced by Wiggle.

il_principe

Wandsworth Town to Borough

Cycling - 7.1 Miles, 25 mins
Train - 6.5 miles, 1 hour - but then I do choose to walk from Waterloo to Borough which prob adds 10 mins
Tube - TFL reckons 1 hour
Walking - 6.5 miles, about 2 hours I reckon
Driving - Google reckons 22 mins, I reckon 1 hour.

davis

Porgy wrote:

Do you take your dog to work with you?

Good point; I guess that could do with some explanation. No, that was a borrowed dog (the best kind!). I was looking after her for a while and decided she could do with a "proper" walking. She slept all day at the office but was bouncing around again for the walk back.

Clever Pun

Cycling - 13 miles 45-50 minutes
public - tram 10 mins, then train to london bridge 15 mins then walking 20 mins (£2 then £8 for returns as I don't have a travel card)

saladfunky

Car: 9 miles which varies from 25 to 45 mins and in snow over an hour or impossible

Bike: 9 miles, between 25 and 30 mins unless snowy, then 30 to 45 mins with mtb.

Drive in and feel ok at work
Cycle in and feel great at work. I change into work gear while the pc winds itself up.

This feeling good bit is what makes it all work for me, I fiunction better after cycling in.

jonginge

Only 2 viable ways to work:
Bike: 11.3m, ~45mins
PT (Train/Drain/Walk): Best case 50mins

I feel I need another shower after the PT journey so bike always wins*



* 'cept on Fridays, natch

Harry B

Cycling 20 miles - anywhere between 75 and 90 minutes depending on traffic lights etc

Tube - minimum of 90 minutes door to door (about 15 minutes of which is walking to and from the station at each end)

Driving - Never tried it but I'd guess around 2 hours dependant on the time I left

Cycling is the best option all round, although as I look out of the window and see that its p1ssing down I may take a different view in about an hours time :roll:

Bloody weather

Porgy

davis wrote:

Porgy wrote:

Do you take your dog to work with you?

Good point; I guess that could do with some explanation. No, that was a borrowed dog (the best kind!). I was looking after her for a while and decided she could do with a "proper" walking. She slept all day at the office but was bouncing around again for the walk back.

I'd love to take a dog into work with me. I once took a puppy to a Greenpeace meeting and got lots of attention (me and the puppy) from the girls. 8)

KeimanP

Well for me Public Transport is out...

There is one bus from the village a week (and I would have to walk a half a mile back into the village to reach the stop) so I would have to leave for work on a Saturday morning and then return the following weekend, to then stay on the bus to go back to work!! (There is absolutlely no point in the bus service what so ever!)

By car it is 16 miles and takes about 20mins

By bike (I am soon to be trying this.....) and will be about 14 miles and I imagine when I get 'fit enough' to achieve the commute It will take initially take about 1 hour and then hopefully reducing.. I have not yet been out on the bike and have a couple of routes planned for this weekend (should the weather not be against me) to get an idea for how long it will take me!

So if I was purely commuting to save time it would have to be by car.... but then that doesn't give me any form of exercise!

Robert

shouldbeinbed

town - rural - suburban 7+ hilly miles 30 mins by bike

car: 15-20 mins mornings & 20-30 mins home. ( my wife drives and passes my work on the way to hers so there is no advantage at all to me cycling other than I enjoy doing it and can cope with an extra pizza and pint without getting too lardy)

walking: 2 hours but it's mainly private land not many roadside footpaths - can be a bit hairy at times.

bus - hahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
hahahahahahahahahahahahahah and so on until I weep bitter tears of frustration or cease breathing.
No direct route, long walk from my house to the relevant stop, very expensive and I'd be getting up for work before I got home the previous evening.

Train - stolen from us for the M£trolink in 18 months time. Whoopee doo.

jamesco

For my 12 mile Ealing-Shoreditch route:

* Bike - 1hr (lots of red lights, and I stop at 'em )
* Tube - 1hr (includes 15 & 10 minutes walking at the respective ends)
* Motorcycle - 45 minutes
* Car - wouldn't even consider it. 2hrs?

We have free parking in the courtyard at work, but there's no way I'd ride a motorbike daily across London - just too stressful. Bike & tube are a wash in time & convenience; due to back problems I don't cycle as often as I'd like (only 4-6 one-way trips weekly) but the bikeride is rather dull while the tube is unreliable & expensive.

suzyb

Walking - about 20 seconds, less if I get to work straight after getting out of bed

Has anyone included time taken for scraping the car or getting it out the garage etc. I work at home so don't commute to an office or anything but after taking close to 10 minutes to scrape the car a few times this year I thought, working within a certain radius it would actually be quicker to cycle.

benno68

Lift in with Mrs Benno - we work at the same place, but our hours vary which would mean her coming back to collect me. Car is about 4.5 miles 15 minutes max.

Bus x 2 - never tried it, but going to be £5 a day easy and 45 minutes at least.

Train - 10 minutes walk, 10 minutes on train , 10 minutes walk and £5 a day or so.

Cycling, direct route is 3.8 miles - 15 minutes or so. But I usually do 7.8 miles (30 mins) or 13.5 miles (50 mins) in and 7.8 or 16 miles home.

davis

Interesting...

Here are the results, ordered by distance in miles. It's a bit difficult to compare the driving versus cycling times, because a lot of the blank spaces mean "no way would I try it!"

Edit: Gah. Tabulating without HTML's table tag sucketh.

         Distance    Cycling  Tube/Train  Driving  Bus  Walking  Other  Motorbike                            
Benno68        4         15       30          15    45                      
Agent57        5.2       23                   70    60     90                            
davis          7         28                   18    90    120                          
LiT            7         25        40       
shouldbeinbed  7         30                   20          120                          
Il Principe    7.1       25       60          60          120                               
Quinn          8         45       45                                                    
saladfunky     9         28                   35                 
flamite       10         60       80                                              
JonGinge      11.3       45       50                                               
jamesco       12         60       60                                            45      
Clever Pun    13         45       45                             
Porgy         14         70       65          65                   90  
KeimanP       15         60                   20                                            
iPete         16.9       70       80          90                   
Coopster      18         70                   50                 
Harry B       20         80       90          120                
Roastie       80         360     100                               95  

Overall, even for us country folk, cycling's usually not that slow. I guess for all the city dwellers, it's significantly faster.

Eau Rouge

Work is all of 2.5 miles outside the suburban town I live in.

Driving is the quickest way, both in bed-to-desk time and pure commute as there is parking on-site and it's the same route as cycling and you go faster in the car as there is no real traffic

Cycling takes about 9 minutes thanks to the drags uphill, but add to that faffing with locks and clothes and the need to shower at work and it takes a lot longer than the car.

Buses, both public and the free shttle bus, aren't viable for me. Just getting to the bus stop a few minutes before the bus does takes most of the time of the other options anyway, thats before the long winding route they both take.

So, naturally, I cycle 5 days a week and take an out-of-wy-way 6 miles route home most days.

Porgy

suzyb wrote:

Has anyone included time taken for scraping the car or getting it out the garage etc. I work at home so don't commute to an office or anything but after taking close to 10 minutes to scrape the car a few times this year I thought, working within a certain radius it would actually be quicker to cycle.

No - but I think I ought to include time required to walk to the show room and buy - time for delivery - oh and all the hours i would have to work before i could afford to buy one.

suzyb

Porgy wrote:

suzyb wrote:

Has anyone included time taken for scraping the car or getting it out the garage etc. I work at home so don't commute to an office or anything but after taking close to 10 minutes to scrape the car a few times this year I thought, working within a certain radius it would actually be quicker to cycle.

No - but I think I ought to include time required to walk to the show room and buy - time for delivery - oh and all the hours i would have to work before i could afford to buy one.

You should go car shopping with my parents. Their past 3 cars they've barely been on the lot 5 minutes before they've chosen a car and are heading in with the salesman to sort out the purchase.

Canny Jock

Cycling - 7 miles, about 30 mins on the bike.
Train - 12 mins on the train, plus 15-20 mins in total walking to and from the station so say 30 mins total.
Car - only ever driven in once, which took about 45 mins, and had to arrange parking for the day and congestion charge - not an option really.

When I cycle though, I have to shower at the gym by work which adds time, so to compare bike to train I'll also use the bed to desk time.

Bike - get out of bed at 7.10, leave house by 7.30, at the gym by 7.50, showered and in a suit at my desk by 8.30.

Train - get out of bed at 7.20, shower then leave house by 7.50, on the 8.02 train, London Bridge by 8.15ish, desk by 8.30.

So the train is a bit quicker because of the shower detour, but I would still rather cycle, especially as going home it's quicker as I don't have to go via the gym.

Also - we are moving offices this year, and I'm hoping we might have a shower at work which should bring the bike out ahead!

gaz545

14 miles
Bike: 51 mins average
public transport: 1h 05mins average

public transport is also £2,500pa more expensive that cycling.

Jay dubbleU

Bike - 5 miles road and cross country - 20 mins
Walk - ditto - 1 hour 15
Car - 7 miles - jams at commuting times - 25 min + 5 mins walk at the end
Bus - 25min + cost 1.50BP - I have bus pass for being an old person but this doesn't kick in until after 09:30 and before 03:30