Commuting is worth it after all :D

[tiggerai]

Milton Keynes the best commuter choice | Metro.co.uk

Yay

(I missed this article this morning as I got shovelled into a tube train in which i dropped the copy of Metro I was reading and someone stood on it.)

[TheAnimus]

Milton Keynes - because its saves you money

[MadduckUK]

MK was on a proggy about motorways a bit back, and they basically said the place was a failure :s

[tiggerai]

Originally Posted by MadduckUK

MK was on a proggy about motorways a bit back, and they basically said the place was a failure :s

Failure??? How?

I don't see it being a failure. Pretty damn good palce to live in my eyes (not in others, but we've had this discussion Alex...)

[MadduckUK]

cant quite remember, presume something to do with the roads rather than the town itself.. meh

[Lucio]

I think I know what you mean, I remember reading somewhere that the combination of the US grid system along with UK roundabouts caused more traffic snarlups than they solved and that certain parts of the city became completely gridlocked.

[tiggerai]

Originally Posted by Lucio

I think I know what you mean, I remember reading somewhere that the combination of the US grid system along with UK roundabouts caused more traffic snarlups than they solved and that certain parts of the city became completely gridlocked.

Only when they're faffing about with fixing things...

I think the report was about parts of the city WILL become gridlocked, i remember this now. They're improving the road system at the moment so this won't happen. (motorway junctions etc)

Places get gridlocked at busy times wherever you go... Sheer weight of traffic (SWOT)

[Lucio]

The article is also missing a few towns

For example, Hemel Hempstead, closer than Milton Keynes and houses are even cheaper because well, it's Hemel Hempsted

[chicken]

Come to Kent, they're never faffing about fixing roads around here*







*lies

[usxhe190]

Will only think about this option when the train system is improved back to human standards!

[SiM]

What about travel time? Surely the extra travel time should have a cost associated with it... That's why living in London is the bestest... London is teh roX0r, everywhere else is teh sux0r

[tiggerai]

Originally Posted by usxhe190

Will only think about this option when the train system is improved back to human standards!

I have had 2 problems with trains in the last 20 months from MK... From anywhere south of London it's a mess. Silverlink/London Midland are one of the better companies in the south east.

Most of the time the trains run on time, they're reasonably clean and there is one every 10 mins or so in peak times.

Can't complain about that really.


SiM - I know people who take about the same time to get to work as me, and they live in london. It's an hour and a half door to door for me. And has no associated cost at the moment (childcare costs etc)

[usxhe190]

Originally Posted by SiM

What about travel time? Surely the extra travel time should have a cost associated with it... That's why living in London is the bestest... London is teh roX0r, everywhere else is teh sux0r

Not really...the underground has been very shody this past few months (ironically it was the newest line (Jubilee))...only difference is, you can walk to work with all your colleagues...

[SiM]

Originally Posted by tiggerai

SiM - I know people who take about the same time to get to work as me, and they live in london. It's an hour and a half door to door for me. And has no associated cost at the moment (childcare costs etc)

Well I suppose it depends on how far you live from where you work... I worked (and will be working) in Zone 2 (East) and I live in Zone 3... So only 30 mins travel time for me
Even if I worked in Central London, it would be a max of 1 hour travel time...

Originally Posted by usxhe190

Not really...the underground has been very shody this past few months (ironically it was the newest line (Jubilee))...only difference is, you can walk to work with all your colleagues...

Well I can't comment on the past few months, because I have been at Uni, but in my experience its been ok... and there's is always the alternative (but slow!) route down the DLR if the jubilee is not working...

[TheAnimus]

But what about the cost of your time?

I door to door in about 40 min, i generally allow an extra 5 min grace.

So an extra Hour and a Half a day, now the cost saving works out at £10 an hour.

When you take into account the increased transport costs, the mortgage increase dosen't seam so harsh. Using the metros figures (which is more than we're paying for our mortgage!).

So MK makes sense if your time is worth less than £10 an hour, just on the cost front.

(this fails to take into account ones love for Argos Architecture, etc.)

edit: should mention, this is zone 4 north london, so cheap, takes upto 33min on the tube, tubes are every 1-3min at peak times upto every 10 min really-off-peak.

[usxhe190]

Originally Posted by tiggerai

I have had 2 problems with trains in the last 20 months from MK... From anywhere south of London it's a mess. Silverlink/London Midland are one of the better companies in the south east.

Most of the time the trains run on time, they're reasonably clean and there is one every 10 mins or so in peak times.

Can't complain about that really.


SiM - I know people who take about the same time to get to work as me, and they live in london. It's an hour and a half door to door for me. And has no associated cost at the moment (childcare costs etc)

thanks for letting me know tiggerai - i wasn't sure the specific experience with trains for that line

i guess i am just wary of the efficiency of trains lately...