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Someone Somewhere · October 14th 17, 07:37 AM posted to uk.transport.london

On 13/10/2017 18:55, wrote:
In article , (Someone
Somewhere) wrote:

On 13/10/2017 14:37, wrote:
In article , (Someone
Somewhere) wrote:

On 13/10/2017 02:32, wrote:
In article ,
(GeorgeK) wrote:

Thank you all for your replies. My wife doesn't drive but we are
willing to live on the suburbs of Oxford provided that she can take
at least the bus to work which is at the city center. We are mainly
interested in living near a city with certain amenities (restaurants,
bars, shopping street, etc).

The idea of staying at Headington doesn't sound bad as it seems to be
less than 30min from the city center by bus. From your replies, it
seems that the 6th zone (Ickenham, Hillington or Rickmansworth) is
the closest I can get by car to London before being stuck in the jam.

When I checked the commute from Didcot to London by train it wasn't
faster (or cheaper) compared to Oxford. You reckon that Didcot would
be more convenient though?

Has you wife actually looked at the cycling option? Oxford is only
second to Cambridge for UK cycle commuting and up to 5 miles is an
easy cycle commute. My wife doesn't drive and regularly cycles to her
job 2.5-3 miles away as I did when working even though I drive.

The problem with relying on cyclng is that it's lovely when the
weather is, and when it isn't it's bloody horrible.

I live on what is allegedly one of the busiest cycle routes in the UK
and it's incredibly noticeable how usage drops when the weather is
less than clement.

Because of this I'd seriously argue that a modal shift to cycling is
impossible - you still have to dimension the transport infrastructure
for those bad days, and if you've just taken a chunk out of it to
accomodate the cycle lane then for periods of the year (e.g.
"February") you're actually making things worse, not better.

Sorry, but that is as ridiculous as saying you will drive even though
10% of the time traffic will be so bad that you will be seriously late
to work.

No it's not - it's observational that during poor weather (or winter)
the number of cyclists reduces dramatically. Do you dispute this?

Have you got the traffic counts? There appears to be much more traffic.
While a bit of that is cyclists using their cars but the main effect is
because cars are driving slower due to the conditions.

I mentioned a reduction in cyclists - not necessarily an increase in
cars - we have other modes of transport in London where people have
observed an increase in passengers during inclement weather.

Believe me, you don't want to go down the route of insisting I cite
evidence, otherwise you may find yourself asked for similar on each and
every contentious point you ever make.

Non-trivial rain occurs as commuter time well under 10% of the time. It
isn't that hard to get good cycling raingear either.

That's not the point, the point is cyclists seem fickle about the
weather but presumably will still make their journey which presumably
will be via tube / trian / taxi / uber / car.

Ones like contributors to this thread maybe. How many of you ever cycle?
Even since I retired I cycle regularly in central London. Sometimes it rains
too. Fortunately reality is becoming more apparent in places where cycling
is properly supported.

Does it matter who cycles or not? I work from home overlooking CS3
between Tower Hill and Canary Wharf. It is absolutely obvious that the
number of cyclists drops during bad weather.

You appear to be so blinkered about cycling to the point of implying I
am lying about what I see - is that really your intention?