Walk or cycle to work, says the Government

[yellowbrickwhorl]

I'm just deciding whether to walk or cycle the 25 miles to and from work each day. Which would be preferable, do you think?

It's 7 miles got me into central London , a bit too far to cycle with the last parts being across the middle of London anyway.
I'll look into trains to say Waterloo and walking last part, was 30 mins or so when I did it before during tube strikes. That is not too bad (but then the trains are rammed too)
Will stay wfh I assume as long as possible

Maybe They have commitments which makes this impossible

Unlikely, most are child free or parents of teenagers and in any case we work flexibly and have a 2 hour window for both start and finish times.

Several other European countries with similar or worse weather and seasonal darkness have far higher levels of cycling as transport than the UK but here we just seem to culturally hate cyclists and have endless reasons why we couldn't possibly cycle a few miles to work and back even occasionally.

I will say it again. No-one is expecting those who live a long way from work to cycle, merely those who are driving or getting public transport short distances.

People might be forced into it anyway, because if too few people make the change, roads and public transport will be too congested to be usable and people could have walked or cycled in the time it's taken to sit in traffic or wait for several buses to go past that already have however few people are allowed to get on while maintaining social distancing.

Ahh, I love a 30 mile round trip cycling or walking! Conquering 4 big hills (or do + 12 mile a d-tour on the dual carriageway??). Getting to work all hot and sweaty, it's a dream come true!

On a serious note, I used to live in a big city and always cycled to work. It's great fun and I think up to an hour each way is perfectly durable. If we want to go back to work and practice social distancing, it's a great solution for those who can do it.

In the end there will only be take up if other options are less attractive such as long (hours) queues for buses.

Cycling has a bad image in the UK, its astonishing when other countries embrace it with so much less fuss. Hopefully the money will go to improving cycle routes and junctions in key cities.

I would have thought people who live within walking distance to work already do that. Cycling can be dangerous and the cycling lanes are not going to appear overnight, and there are many who are too scared, aren't fit enough or it's not appropriate for one reason or another. I would not cycle in London, though I did in my 20s. I'd worry my bike would get stolen for a start!
I think what will happen is people will start driving to work more.

I already walk for about 60 minutes anyway- loads more people could walk the central london portion of their journey and avoid the tube.

It’s impossible to walk 2m distant from everyone else in central London. I realise ‘outside’ is better than on the tube but I still can’t see it being recommended in these times. People who work in densely populated areas need to WFH where possible.

I would truly love to walk to work and as I only live two miles away you might say that I bloody well should be! The issue (and it might sound trivial but it’s a definite problem), is that I work at ds school, they do not have lockers for their stuff. He has a huge heavy rucksack, big sports bag, forest school kit, cricket bats/ hockey sticks / tennis rackets etc.. The boot of my car is full every day with his school paraphernalia! It would be an absolute nightmare to carry all of that there and back every day even between the two of us.
This issue has been pissing me off for a while, in light of this latest advice I’m going to start a campaign for the HT to resolve this - that will make me even less popular than I am now!

Walk: you can collect sponsors and raise money for charity, two marathons, nearly, every day

I’d love to cycle to work but wouldn’t because I value being alive.

No, it won’t work for everyone. I cycle a 14 mile round trip every day. How many other people from my village cycle to work......I would say less than 5. Out of a village of 4000 people. There is actually an off road cycle path the whole way, but it’s a bit rough. Maybe making the surface a better surface might encourage more people and then there will be less people on the bus or train?

Cycling isnt dangerous. Cycling in motor vehicle traffic is the dangerous bit.

Most cities have at least some cycle routes, its joining them up and getting to key destinations is the thing.

The surface won't be putting anyone off. A 7 mile off road cycle path sounds like heaven for commuting and fine for most bikes except pure road bikes.

Strewth, some people really have no sense of the absurd, do they?

JohnFinlaysNewTeeth I'm a long way from being 'this thick in real life' but this is Mumsnet and I don't much appreciate being insulted on a light-hearted thread - there is really no need for it.

I think walk - backwards, of course!

When they make a traffic free (not just blue paint on the road for the buses and boy racers to ignore) route to work and school, then I’ll happily cycle the 7 miles and I would probably let dd1 do the same to school (she’s a small 11yo, so harder to spot and less good at predicting what traffic will do). Until then, no.

In London busses are only going to be allowed 15 people instead of 85.

Are they actually planning on doing that? 😂 Oh my god I can't wait to see the photos for when that starts. The length of the queues waiting for a bus will be so long, I wonder how many will be late to work.

Shouldn't you welcome this, OP -- you should be the greatest supporter if cycling really isn't feasible for you.

~50% of commutes are < 3 miles. Of course it would be great if more people cycled or walked to work, even a 5% increase in cycling could noticeably reduce the mass of cars on the road & make more room on public transport.

Especially if cycling isn't practical for you, you should be hugely endorsing this plan to make the roads quieter (if you drive) or public transport emptier (if you use public transport).

Long summer days, I want to cycle 1/2 mile, train 17 miles, cycle 3 miles to work, & cycle 17 miles home. Doubt I'll be allowed back in my office much before late 2021 though. So I'm keen, but doubt I'll be allowed.

The infrastructure in this country doesn't support cycling and along with so much else has been completely neglected by the government until now. The £250m proposal is a tiny drop in the ocean.

Dd is under 4 miles from school, currently all the children travel in 3 buses which are all full, no on cycles because there is no cycle path and the road is far too dangerous.

My commute is 30 miles and includes the M3, I'm dreading how busy the motorway is going to get as people stop using the train and drive instead.

This is not going to work.Traffic will be horrendous as more people use their cars instead of public transport.

Lots of school children use public transport, their parents will drive them instead.

I only have a three mile walk to work.

However, it's the three mile walk back, in the dark, being followed by sheep baaing hopefully at me (I'm carrying a bag, it MUST be food) that puts me off.

Plus then having to take the dog for a walk when I get home and all I want is to sit down and have a cup of tea - although, to be fair, this also applies when I drive.

It really is the getting squashed that bothers people though.

It doesn't matter if your commute is 3 miles or 30, if there's heavy traffic, poorly designed turns and limited visibility with almost no provision for cyclists, there is a real danger. It can be alarming enough in a small car!
Other European countries really do do this better. I cycle quite happily in mine, but I'm glad my sister doesn't cycle in London.

Outside London, the situation isn't much better. I wouldn't want to cycle up a rural B road at 6.30 on a drizzly Tuesday morning either, for similar reasons.

@JohnFinlaysNewTeeth Bit rich having a go at other people’s intelligence when you can’t even work your caps lock properly!

This is not going to work.Traffic will be horrendous as more people use their cars instead of public transport

Which is why we need as many people as possible to continue to WFH combined with a significant proportion of the 50% of car journeys that are under three miles to be made by bike or walking.

For congestion, pollution and health reasons, able bodied adults driving a couple of miles really is socially unacceptable.

It's a step in the right direction at least. Unless people are going to be strung up by their toes and whipped for using their cars, there is absolutely no downside at all to encouraging more walking and cycling: better for health, for tackling air pollution, for obesity, for road deaths. It's all good. If people don't want to, fine, but those that do should be encouraged.