Traffic in London.

[Filthy_contract]

My commute these days is horrendous, too.

Get out of bed. Have a wee, then a shower. Don leisure gear. Walk down stairs. Put kettle and toaster on. Feed dog. Have a cup of tea. Take dog for quick walk. Have another cup of tea. Sit in study. Turn laptop on. Turn off video camera. Log in to morning meeting. Make more tea and toast...who actually commutes these days?

I have a wardrobe of suits, business shirts and ties, plus several pairs of brogues and Oxfords. I have not worn any of them since early March. Is the Death of the Suit imminent?

 

[lokiuk]

I have a wardrobe of suits, business shirts and ties, plus several pairs of brogues and Oxfords. I have not worn any of them since early March. Is the Death of the Suit imminent?

I've only worn them for interviews, marriages and funerals for a long time

 

[Dan Gleebles]

The big money spinner on the £250k studio flat in stabville, Hackney is that you can let it out and house a dozen Somalis and charge them £300 pw each.

 

[Dan Gleebles]

I have a wardrobe of suits, business shirts and ties, plus several pairs of brogues and Oxfords. I have not worn any of them since early March. Is the Death of the Suit imminent?

Is the death of cheap coffee shops like Starbucks imminent?

How anyone can turn coffee beans and hot milk into a cardboard cup takeaway beverage and manage to make a profit is beyond me.

 

[lokiuk]

Is the death of cheap coffee shops like Starbucks imminent?

How anyone can turn coffee beans and hot milk into a cardboard cup takeaway beverage and manage to make a profit is beyond me.

The hipsters who were selling over priced breakfasts gave up

People realised that paying a fiver for milk and some cereal was a bit much

 

[Filthy_contract]

I've only worn them for interviews, marriages and funerals for a long time

You failed to mention court appearances...

 

[Chef]

When the congestion charge was first introduced it made a limited amount of sense. The subsequent expansion was a money grabbing excercise.

Cars are a captive audience and so easy to get more money from.

The options for the government are these.

1) Make public transport so reliable and cheap that nobody but a fool would use a car. It can be done, Friends living in Madrid would no more drive to work than ski in. This costs the authorities money.

2) Make cars so expensive that it's easier to allow an extra hour, ninety minutes, to get into work and although the system is dirty, unreliable and costly, it's still cheaper financially. It just costs the punter an extra five to ten hours of their own time each week. Cost to authorities zero, with the added benefit of extra cash coming in from people forced to use private means. Shift workers, like hospitality, cleaners and, oh yes, nurses.

Motorcycles are for winners. No congestion charge, no ULEZ charges.

Mr Khan's dad was a bus driver you know.

 

[Filthy_contract]

1) Make public transport so reliable and cheap that nobody but a fool would use a car. It can be done, Friends living in Madrid would no more drive to work than ski in. This costs the authorities money.

Prior to lockdown I commuted into central London from Zone 6, if not working on client site. Buses arrived when programmed (save for occasional traffic delays, but updated information was displayed at my stop or on various Apps). I never had to wait for more than 3-4 minutes for a Tube train at peak time (Jubilee time). Delays on the Tube were very infrequent and because of this I could predict my commuting time within a couple of minutes.
Friends visiting (remember that?) from the States or Australia are in awe of Public Transport in London, although the cost of it was also a gripe. But over my various tours in London over the last 20 years, public transport has only got better (more regular, more reliable).

ETA: Another strength of public transport in London is that it is a network. As seen after the 7/7 bombings 15 years ago, there are numerous network work-arounds, even when key nodes are knocked out. From my London location I can use buses, tube, overground and network rail links as alternatives. If the Jubilee line is down, I can use other lines. If the Tube network is down, I can use a bus to get to either overground or Network rail nodes. If the buses are out (eg industrial action) a short cycle ride can take me to three different transport modes.

 

[Dan Gleebles]

When the congestion charge was first introduced it made a limited amount of sense. The subsequent expansion was a money grabbing excercise.

Cars are a captive audience and so easy to get more money from.

The options for the government are these.

1) Make public transport so reliable and cheap that nobody but a fool would use a car. It can be done, Friends living in Madrid would no more drive to work than ski in. This costs the authorities money.

2) Make cars so expensive that it's easier to allow an extra hour, ninety minutes, to get into work and although the system is dirty, unreliable and costly, it's still cheaper financially. It just costs the punter an extra five to ten hours of their own time each week. Cost to authorities zero, with the added benefit of extra cash coming in from people forced to use private means. Shift workers, like hospitality, cleaners and, oh yes, nurses.

Motorcycles are for winners. No congestion charge, no ULEZ charges.

Mr Khan's dad was a bus driver you know.

Public transport in London is a bargain.

Just short of six thousand of your English Pounds a year will secure a standing position on a cosy train for a quick hour or so.

Particularly comfortable during the winter months, where after standing on a chilly platform for a delayed service, wrapped up in a warm coat, you luxuriate in the additional heat of your fellow travellers who don't have the space to remove their coat either.

Nice and toasty.

 

[neil82]

Is the death of cheap coffee shops like Starbucks imminent?

How anyone can turn coffee beans and hot milk into a cardboard cup takeaway beverage and manage to make a profit is beyond me.

simple, 80% mark up (at the Irish end, they pay £2.50 lb for the beans and sell them to the Uk shops for £75lb), then the mugs cough up up to £6 for a cardboard cup of the sheite

 

[Dan Gleebles]

simple, 80% mark up (at the Irish end, they pay £2.50 lb for the beans and sell them to the Uk shops for £75lb), then the mugs cough up up to £6 for a cardboard cup of the sheite

I never thought of that.

 

[stacker1]

Public transport in London is a bargain.

Just short of six thousand of your English Pounds a year will secure a standing position on a cosy train for a quick hour or so.

Particularly comfortable during the winter months, where after standing on a chilly platform for a delayed service, wrapped up in a warm coat, you luxuriate in the additional heat of your fellow travellers who don't have the space to remove their coat either.

Nice and toasty.

Have you tried not to be poor and travel in first class on the trains?

 

[Egg on Leggs]

London is easily affordable.

£250,000 buys you a studio flat in a crime ridden tower block in one of the more 'vibrant' parts of town.

What more do you want?

A deranged malignant racist who can't count as your MP would be nice.

 

[stacker1]

Prior to lockdown I commuted into central London from Zone 6, if not working on client site. Buses arrived when programmed (save for occasional traffic delays, but updated information was displayed at my stop or on various Apps). I never had to wait for more than 3-4 minutes for a Tube train at peak time (Jubilee time). Delays on the Tube were very infrequent and because of this I could predict my commuting time within a couple of minutes.
Friends visiting (remember that?) from the States or Australia are in awe of Public Transport in London, although the cost of it was also a gripe. But over my various tours in London over the last 20 years, public transport has only got better (more regular, more reliable).

I think public transport in London is very convenient, unless you are moving something heavy/bulky **** knows why people use cars.

Even the prices are reasonable if you live there, monthly travel costs are 138 quid for zone 1 and 2 to 253 quid for zone 1 to 6.

 

[A signaller]

Special school streets so go around and some roads closed so fight to get out and lots of cable replacement works going on with attendant temporary traffic lights and barriers suddenly appearing so diversion needed. I's in 'Ackney and my trip from Central to Dalston used to take ten minutes, now around an hour.

One of the many reasons we escaped from London (Hackney then leytonstone) was the traffic congestion, that was 32 years ago, god knows what its like now. Do yourselves a favour, get the hell outa dodge.

Its a fact, traffic now moves slower in London that 100 years ago, average speed in central London is 7-8Mph, and in inner London 11-12 Mph. Outer London 19-20 mph.

Up here average speeds are 30+ My 15 mile drive into Birmingham takes about 35 minutes, 15 miles across London will take you about 2 hours. ( Plus congestion charge) good luck with that!

 

[Chef]

Prior to lockdown I commuted into central London from Zone 6, if not working on client site. Buses arrived when programmed (save for occasional traffic delays, but updated information was displayed at my stop or on various Apps). I never had to wait for more than 3-4 minutes for a Tube train at peak time (Jubilee time). Delays on the Tube were very infrequent and because of this I could predict my commuting time within a couple of minutes.
Friends visiting (remember that?) from the States or Australia are in awe of Public Transport in London, although the cost of it was also a gripe. But over my various tours in London over the last 20 years, public transport has only got better (more regular, more reliable).

Fair enough. I suppose that public transport is treated the same way as school dinners and mother-in-laws always to be disparaged never praised.

Plus it's been years since I had to use public transport.

Informative nonetheless.

 

[johnboyzzz]

I suspect it will stay the norm for many. Lots of firms have realised they don't need large, expensive city centre offices. I can see many of them down-sizing their offices, perhaps with staff required to come in only if they really need to or possibly only for one or two days a week.

For quite a few that will be the case. I work for a UK wide company and we were told the other month that our jobs are moving to Glasgow from Edinburgh in 3 - 5 years time. Having just turned 60 and now got my bus pass I have been working from home for the past 5 years I will continue and work from home and if I have to travel through there, even for a couple of days a week, they will be paying the fares for two years.

The reason, they are spending millions doing up offices through there and are centralising everything in various parts of UK.

Sod living in London.

 

[Chalkythedog]

I am currently observing the lockdown restrictions, but I have to go and pick up my dear old mum from dyalasis twice a week.

If i were to take this return journey at this time of night it would take me ten minutes or so , this afternoon it took me over an hour and a quarter to get home.
The mayor has narrowed the roads and totally made the place into gridlock central.
The traffic lights seem to be set to deliberatly f*ck you up if you are driving a car.
Someones arsse needs to get a severe bumming.

Can anyone explain the reasoning behind this?

It might be to do with the fact that your mayor does not have your best interests at heart.

 

[theoriginalphantom]

With the availability of online shopping with next day delivery, one wonders why people bother with bricks and mortar stores really

I also need to buy some bricks

 

[RTU'd]

My flat in leafy London buys me a 3 bed detached or 4 bed semi in my sisters village in the South West.