On Thu, 03 Nov 2005 11:25:58 +0000, James Farrar
wrote:

There was some talk a while back about setting up DAB reception in the
tubes... here's hoping!

More likely to be video & audio delivered over mobile phones, judging
by http://www.drdb.org/newsletter/news.php?id=248

DAB would be a natural fit for us moles, ideal for leaky feeders, a
natural monopoly to push DAB on, captive market, well suited to the
tunnels. So it'll never happen :-(

--
New anti-spam address cmylod at despammed dot com

Heres a questionnaire for a uni research report I'm undertaking on
commuter habits, attitudes and experiences. if you could spend a minute
responding then that would be much appreciated.

Thanks again
Andy

http://FreeOnlineSurveys.com/rendersurvey.asp?id=125880

"Andy" writes:
Heres a questionnaire for a uni research report I'm undertaking ...

I was about to answer question 6 with "10 times a week" until I saw that
that wasn't one of the choices. To me "journey" means one way.
--
Mark Brader "Never re-invent the wheel unnecessarily;
Toronto yours may have corners."
-- Henry Spencer

In article ,
(Roland Perry) wrote:

In message .com,
at 04:34:54 on Mon, 31 Oct 2005, Andy :
Background : A significant percentage of commuters travel privately
when making the journey to and from their place of work. They travel
the same route at the same time, day in day out. Often encompassing
the stress and boredom of congestion and road-works. Their time spent
here can add considerable time to their day and can thus be described
as being 'wasted time'.

It's not wasted time if it's quicker door to door than using public
transport.

Nor is it wasted if they can listen to the radio (or other forms of
"entertainment" if preferred).

I used to listen to the R4 "today" programme for the hour I drove to
work, and "PM"/"6-O-Clock News" on the way home. As a result I was
much better informed about what was going on, and didn't regard the
time as wasted at all. In fact, it was quite relaxing. No need to get
stressed out by delays, any more than similarly regular delays on
public transport. Indeed, one is much more the master of one's
destiny in a car as you can take an alternative route so much easier
than if you are stuck on a train.

If I'd taken the train, the journey would have been more like 1.5hrs,
and it's much more effort to listen to the radio whilst buffeted
around on a commuter train, and getting to and from the station,
compared to sitting in a comfortable car.

I find the time on the train used most productively reading newsgroups
like this (though I have to admit I didn't read this thread until after
I got home tonight). A good reason for a laptop and offline reader.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

In message , at
00:05:00 on Sat, 5 Nov 2005, Colin Rosenstiel
remarked:
If I'd taken the train, the journey would have been more like 1.5hrs,
and it's much more effort to listen to the radio whilst buffeted
around on a commuter train, and getting to and from the station,
compared to sitting in a comfortable car.

I find the time on the train used most productively reading newsgroups
like this (though I have to admit I didn't read this thread until after
I got home tonight). A good reason for a laptop and offline reader.

Yes, and I've done that regularly over the last six years. Something you
definitely can't do in a car!

On the other hand, you can't do it standing up on a train, either - and
I found it rather uncomfortable when sitting on the floor. Sadly, during
the latter period of my Royston/KX trips I found it increasingly common
not to get a seat. Perhaps twice a week. And needing to shove oneself
into a seat (literally) made it even more stressful when boarding the
train.
--
Roland Perry

In article ,
(Roland Perry) wrote:

In message ,
at 00:05:00 on Sat, 5 Nov 2005, Colin Rosenstiel
remarked:
If I'd taken the train, the journey would have been more like
1.5hrs, and it's much more effort to listen to the radio whilst
buffeted around on a commuter train, and getting to and from the
station, compared to sitting in a comfortable car.

I find the time on the train used most productively reading
newsgroups like this (though I have to admit I didn't read this
thread until after I got home tonight). A good reason for a laptop
and offline reader.

Yes, and I've done that regularly over the last six years. Something
you definitely can't do in a car!

On the other hand, you can't do it standing up on a train, either -
and I found it rather uncomfortable when sitting on the floor. Sadly,
during the latter period of my Royston/KX trips I found it
increasingly common not to get a seat. Perhaps twice a week. And
needing to shove oneself into a seat (literally) made it even more
stressful when boarding the train.

You were obviously less lucky than me, or poorer in your choice of
times. From Royston to London that is understandable because trains
don't start there but from King's Cross I find it's mainly a matter of
not arriving too close to the train's departure time.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

In message , at
17:30:00 on Sat, 5 Nov 2005, Colin Rosenstiel
remarked:
On the other hand, you can't do it standing up on a train, either -
and I found it rather uncomfortable when sitting on the floor. Sadly,
during the latter period of my Royston/KX trips I found it
increasingly common not to get a seat. Perhaps twice a week. And
needing to shove oneself into a seat (literally) made it even more
stressful when boarding the train.

You were obviously less lucky than me, or poorer in your choice of
times. From Royston to London that is understandable because trains
don't start there

I usually tried to get the train which started out as 4 empty coaches at
Royston, with 4 from Cambridge connecting to the rear. But as you say,
if it was an 8 coach train from Cambridge then they were often full and
standing already.

but from King's Cross I find it's mainly a matter of not arriving too
close to the train's departure time.

Didn't help much. The two trains I usually ended up catching only ever
arrived at the platform a few minutes before departure time. And they
had people trying to get off, as everyone was already pushing to get on.
By the time the train arrived there would be a four or five deep scrum
by every doorway position, although guessing very accurately where the
door was going to be, and arriving early enough, did help.
--
Roland Perry

In article ,
(Roland Perry) wrote:

In message ,
at 17:30:00 on Sat, 5 Nov 2005, Colin Rosenstiel
remarked:
On the other hand, you can't do it standing up on a train, either -
and I found it rather uncomfortable when sitting on the floor.
Sadly, during the latter period of my Royston/KX trips I found it
increasingly common not to get a seat. Perhaps twice a week. And
needing to shove oneself into a seat (literally) made it even more
stressful when boarding the train.

You were obviously less lucky than me, or poorer in your choice of
times. From Royston to London that is understandable because trains
don't start there

I usually tried to get the train which started out as 4 empty coaches
at Royston, with 4 from Cambridge connecting to the rear. But as you
say, if it was an 8 coach train from Cambridge then they were often
full and standing already.

That train starts at Cambridge as 8 coaches now so I think that option
is gone.

but from King's Cross I find it's mainly a matter of not arriving
too close to the train's departure time.

Didn't help much. The two trains I usually ended up catching only
ever arrived at the platform a few minutes before departure time. And
they had people trying to get off, as everyone was already pushing to
get on. By the time the train arrived there would be a four or five
deep scrum by every doorway position, although guessing very
accurately where the door was going to be, and arriving early enough,
did help.

That's changed a bit now too. WAGN elbowed their way into the main
trainshed more and normally get longer in the platforms now.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

Mark Brader wrote:
"Andy" writes:

Heres a questionnaire for a uni research report I'm undertaking ...


I was about to answer question 6 with "10 times a week" until I saw that
that wasn't one of the choices. To me "journey" means one way.

To be fair to him his question 4 says "Do you commute *to* a place of
work or a school of learning" (emphasis added)

And question 6 asks "How often do you make *this* journey" (emphasis added).

So he was explicitly not asking about the commute back from the place of
work.

--
To contact me take a davidhowdon and add a @yahoo.co.uk to the end.

Mark Brader:
I was about to answer question 6 with "10 times a week" until I saw that
that wasn't one of the choices. To me "journey" means one way.

David Howdon:
To be fair to him his question 4 says "Do you commute *to* a place of
work or a school of learning" (emphasis added)

Hah, so it does. However, since "commute" implies a repeated journey,
to me it *cannot* mean one way, except in a special context like "my
morning commute".

ObUTL: When did "workmen's fares" go away?
--
Mark Brader, Toronto | "I like work; it fascinates me. I can sit and
| look at it for hours." -- Jerome K. Jerome