In message , at 12:32:45 on Tue, 10
Oct 2017, GeorgeK remarked:

I am new in here and I would like your opinion and help. I found a job
in London while my wife got a position in Oxford and we were thinking of
living in Oxford as it is slightly cheaper and I would commute daily to
London. By reading other threads it seems that the most convenient way
is to take the train but the annual ticket is ridiculously expensive
(~5000£ !!!!!). 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?

I've been in exactly the same situation (give or take) and you need to
think about several things:

Is the "Oxford night life" something you aspire to (as a potential local
resident), or is that irrelevant.

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.

When I had to travel regularly from east Oxfordshire to London, the most
sustainable routing was M40/A40 to Ickenham, park, and get the tube.
Next best perhaps transfer at Rickmansworth.

Does your wife drive?

Living in (or using the P&R at) Headington [which I don't regard as "in
Oxford"], might be a useful compromise.

There are many other villages in east Oxfordshire which will have
cheaper housing and viable railheads to London and busheads[1] to
Oxford.

It might even be cheaper to leapfrog Oxford and consider living
somewhere like Didcot and both commute the different distances
eastwards. When I was looking at this (admittedly some time ago) I
favoured Swindon, and colleagues were looking at Hungerford.

[1] Is that even a word.
--
Roland Perry

On 2017\10\10 14:25, Roland Perry wrote:

When I had to travel regularly from east Oxfordshire to London, the most
sustainable routing was M40/A40 to Ickenham, park, and get the tube.
Next best perhaps transfer at Rickmansworth.

Not Hillingdon?

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?

In message , at 17:30:57 on Tue, 10
Oct 2017, GeorgeK remarked:

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?

Cheaper housing.
--
Roland Perry

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

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.

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

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.

In message , at 08:37:43
on Fri, 13 Oct 2017, remarked:

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.

One of the driest parts of the country.

Traffic is

catastrophically

worse on wet days but that makes cycling even more advantageous in
travel times.

As long as you don't mind turning up at work drenched.
--
Roland Perry

On 13/10/2017 14:37, wrote:
snip

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.

I am unclear.

Are you arguing that Someone Somewhere was:

a) wrong in his observation that the number of commuting cyclists falls
when the weather is bad or

b) wrong about the consequences for other modes of transport - eg
because the missing cyclists work from home when the weather is bad?

Or is it something else entirely?

--
Robin
reply-to address is (intended to be) valid