Ben@Forest wrote:Overall though I wonder for how many cycling or any form of public transport is a complete non-option. I work 25 miles from home. When I last checked if I used public transport I'd need to walk 2¼ miles to the bus stop. Two buses would get me to the town closest to work at 9.45am (i.e. 45mins late already) and I'd still be 3 miles from the office. Taxi?
I have, most of my adult life (not the last few years) worked 25 - 30 miles from home. I have always cycled it, at least occasionally, and sometimes as much as three times per week. When I was without a car a couple of times, I either used a mixture of bike and train, or got lifts from colleagues as much as possible, and rode my bike when I couldn't get a lift with someone else.
It is a hassle. When I was living and working in Essex. my bicycle commute was 28 miles. With a car, it was about 45 minutes, as long as the A12 was okay. On my bike, I could just about make it in 2 hours. Bike and train was about 2.3 - 2.5 hours, and train + walking was 2.5 - 3.0 hours each way.
It was a bit much to ride my bike every day, though, so if I was without a car, I mostly took my bike on the train.
Living where I did relative to my work, just kind of happened the way they did. Usually, I was living and working in one place, and got a job in another, and either couldnæt move because of a lease, or my partner worked the opposite direction from home, and we lived in between.
When we moved to our current house, I made distance from work a priority, but I can foresee a situation where I could end up working somewhere further away, and having to choose between a long commute or moving, which would take me away from a house and neighborhood that I really like, my kids from a school they really like and are thriving in, etc.
I have to admit that very few people would consider cycling 25 miles to work. But I think that we need incentives to get people working and living nearer tha they often do; maybe tax breaks or something.
“In some ways, it is easier to be a dissident, for then one is without responsibility.”
― Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom