III a) - the anti-commute

[secretlondon]

The instructions:

III. (a)Travel to or from your workplace one day using a completely different route to any you've ever used before.

I have a new job which involves a 1.5 hr commute from Oval to deepest Leytonstone. A journey of this length should give me lots of opportunities so I started playing with journey planner, removing various options to see if it would send me from work to home via somewhere interesting.

My normal route home is a bus to Leytonstone station, then Central Line to Bank, then Northern Line from Bank to Oval. I could go to Wood Street station to Liverpool Street or to Leytonstone High Road and travel on the GOBLIN. One possible route involved taking HS1 from Stratford to St Pancras!


Maybe not

I decided that journey planner was still too focused on sending me efficiently from A to B. Weird train routes may be quirky but the experience is still that of being on a train, just for longer. I needed to find routes which were more fun that this.

The solution came to me when I was on my break. What is the most useless form of London public transport? The cable car! It's a tourist attraction opened for the 2012 Olympics which TfL pretend is a useful, integrated part of the public transport network.

I've always fancied trying the river buses. Previous workplaces have involved travelling towards the river, but I've never really been working far enough east or west of home. The RV1 is a bus that goes along the river. The RB1 is a bus that goes on the river! It will take me from North Greenwich to London Bridge. Ideally I'd like to get a boat all the way to Vauxhall but I'd have to change at Bankside and get the RB2. Their timetables do not fit well so I'd have to wait 20 minutes and after a 12 hour work shift I'd like to get some sleep. I decide to get the bus from London Bridge and this is my route:

• Bus to Leytonstone station
• Central Line to Stratford
• Jubilee Line to Canning Town
• DLR to Victoria Quay
• "Emirates Air Line" tourist cable car to North Greenwich
• RB1 riverbus from North Greenwich Pier to London Bridge Pier
• Bus from London Bridge to Walworth

If I wanted to get to North Greenwich without using the cable car I would stay on the Jubilee Line as it only one stop! Both the cable car and river bus give me a discount for having a travel card but cost extra.

I set off at 8am and got to the cable car at about 9.15. I was the only person in my pod and most pods were empty. The ticket, with a travelcard discount, was £3.30. Normal fare is £4.40.


Entirely sensible public transport

Tree thing

At North Greenwich I walked to the pier and got the RB1 bus. There were only a few of us but more got on further on. The inside of the boat had a little coffee shop and a tv showing tourist info. The signage said you are not allowed to walk around when the boat is moving. It cost me £4.50 with a travelcard discount. Normal single is £6.80, or £6.12 with Oyster PAYG.


Boat


On boat


Off boat

30 minutes later I arrived at London Bridge pier. I got the bus home and in all the journey took 2 1/2 hours.

This was great fun. I think £4.50 for 30 minutes on a boat is actually good value, but obviously it would be better if it was free with a travelcard. Both the riverbuses and and cable car are nearly public transport, run by TfL and with public subsidy, but less functional and more recreational.

Comments

[squirmelia]

That does indeed look like a fun route!

[bob]

i keep on meaing to try the river bus to get to work. Possibly when it next rains.

[spiralsheep]

I definitely approve of a commute involving a cable car and riverboat. Your cap taken from the cable car (?I think?) is especially pleasing.

the riverbuses and and cable car are nearly public transport, run by TfL and with public subsidy, but less functional and more recreational

The Newport transporter bridge, that I was on recently, is owned and run by the local council but they consider it a toll bridge and charge to cross.