Oxford to London commute
 

On 11.10.2017 8:36 PM, Bryan Morris wrote:
In message , GeorgeK
writes

My job is at St Thomas hospital so I have to get to zone 1 (Waterloo or
Westminster). I'll check the places along the Chiltern route as well.
Would you recommend any of those places over the other for living?




How does staying at a Travelodge 4 nights a week on the outskirts of
London, travelling by car Monday morning and returning to Oxford Friday
night compare with the cost/time of commuting 5 days a week

It sounds like a pretty wretched life.

It's been decades since I did it but there was a time in my life when I
found myself (not through choice, thanks to my employer being taken over)
working in Cowley despite living in south London. For what it's worth, I
found the "Oxford Tube" and the X90 buses were viable for commuting
(reliable enough etc.) - but I could only manage it for 6 months before I
found another job and quit.

Oxford to London commute
 

In message , Clank
writes
On 11.10.2017 8:36 PM, Bryan Morris wrote:
In message , GeorgeK
writes

My job is at St Thomas hospital so I have to get to zone 1 (Waterloo or
Westminster). I'll check the places along the Chiltern route as well.
Would you recommend any of those places over the other for living?




How does staying at a Travelodge 4 nights a week on the outskirts of
London, travelling by car Monday morning and returning to Oxford
Friday night compare with the cost/time of commuting 5 days a week

It sounds like a pretty wretched life.

I did it for a while though staying in a hotel owned (as a part of the
business) by my employers . My wife and 2 kids in London I worked
(though based in the London office) in Kent mainly.
--
Bryan Morris
Public Key http://www.pgp.uk.demon.net - 0xCC6237E9

Oxford to London commute
 

"Clank" wrote in message
...
On 11.10.2017 8:36 PM, Bryan Morris wrote:
In message , GeorgeK
writes

My job is at St Thomas hospital so I have to get to zone 1 (Waterloo or
Westminster). I'll check the places along the Chiltern route as well.
Would you recommend any of those places over the other for living?




How does staying at a Travelodge 4 nights a week on the outskirts of
London, travelling by car Monday morning and returning to Oxford Friday
night compare with the cost/time of commuting 5 days a week

It sounds like a pretty wretched life.


yep

It's bad enough doing that if you don't have a family back home

awful if you do

tim

Oxford to London commute
 

On Tue, Oct 10, 2017 at 12:32:45PM +0100, GeorgeK wrote:

By reading other threads it seems that the most convenient way
is to take the train but the annual ticket is ridiculously expensive
(~5000? !!!!!).

Assuming you travel both ways 220 times a year, so 440 journeys of about
60 miles, that's about 20 pence per mile, which really isn't that
expensive. And of course that ignores any benefit you might get from
being able to use your season ticket for journeys into London during
weekends and holidays - you'd have a Gold Card, so that would include
cheaper tickets for your wife as well.

The buses is another option but it would also mean that
I will be spending at least 3h commuting. I do have a car and I was
wondering if it is worth driving to 3rd or 4th zone in London to avoid
congestion charges, park at a station and then use the underground to
get to zone 1. Would this be a good idea? Any other reccomendations?

Depends on fuel consumption, but almost certainly not. You'll need to
pay for parking, for fuel, for extra parts and maintenance due to the
increased wear and tear, and possibly for more insurance because you'll
be doing an extra 20,000 miles per year. You'll not be able to sleep or
read a book or whatever on the journey, or have a drink at the pub after
work, and the journey will be slower.

A train from Oxford to London is about an hour. Arbitrarily picking
Wembley as your zone four destination, that's anywhere between 1h05 and
1h40 depending on traffic, plus the time to get from car to station, and
the time on the tube.

--
David Cantrell | Minister for Arbitrary Justice

I don't do .INI, .BAT, or .SYS files. I don't assign apps to files.
I don't configure peripherals or networks before using them. I have
a computer to do all that. I have a Macintosh, not a hobby.
-- Fritz Anderson

Oxford to London commute
 

In article , (Roland Perry)
wrote:

Commuting the last two miles into Oxford (depending on the exact
location of your wife's employment) is by far the most challenging
exercise here.

That's the easy bit. You cycle what is an ideal distance for cycle
commuting. While you're doing it you laugh at all the people in cars and
buses stuck in traffic.

--
Colin Rosenstiel
Cambridge

Oxford to London commute
 

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.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

Oxford to London commute
 

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.

Oxford to London commute
 

In message , at 20:32:29
on Thu, 12 Oct 2017, remarked:

Commuting the last two miles into Oxford (depending on the exact
location of your wife's employment) is by far the most challenging
exercise here.

That's the easy bit.

Modulo the modal shift from car to bike at the two-mile perimeter.

I note that Cambridgshire is thinking about scrapping the daily parking
charge at P&R, which was aimed at people taking a modal shift to other
than the bus. Or more cynically, aimed at people who weren't using the
P&R in order to go shopping.

--
Roland Perry

Oxford to London commute
 

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

Look at Cambridge commuting if you don't believe me. Traffic is worse on wet
days but that makes cycling even more advantageous in travel times.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

Oxford to London commute
 

On Fri, 13 Oct 2017 08:37:43 -0500
wrote:
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.
Non-trivial rain occurs as commuter time well under 10% of the time. It
isn't that hard to get good cycling raingear either.

When it rains cyclicts get wet regardless of gear. When its hot they stink and
if there are no showers at work then its unpleasent for everyone else who has
to work with them. Also cycling is no use if you're unwell, the area is hilly,
you have something larger than a rucksack to carry or your commute is more
than about 10 miles (unless you're really fit).

Look at Cambridge commuting if you don't believe me. Traffic is worse on wet
days but that makes cycling even more advantageous in travel times.

Cambridge is relatively small town with no hills, narrow streets many of which
are bus only and lots of students who cycle because they probably only live
a mile or 2 from the uni and would have nowhere to park a car anyway. Hardly
representative of the rest of the UK.