Longer, cheaper commute, or more exercise - WWYD?

[ThatCyanSheep]

I’ve got a new job and have two options for my commute. I can get a bus (£6 a day, or something like £90 a month when I get a bus pass). The bus is an hour and it’s very much door to door. About 1200 steps by 9am.

My other option is to get the bus to and from the train station, get the train and then walk for 25 minutes the other side. It’s an extra £60 a month with a season ticket.

I’m going to try out getting the train tomorrow to see if it’s actually feasible, but I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be.

It would amount to about 5,000 extra steps a day. By the end of today (after the gym) I was only on 6,500, so I think it would be beneficial to me to do the train and walk, but I don’t know if I’m also just being idealistic and I’d actually hate it.

YABU - just get the bus and suck up the lower steps.

YANBU - I’d choose the walk too.

Can you get the bus and just get off a few stops earlier?

can't you go for a walk during work day ?

You could get the bus and get off sooner to get your steps in, that way it is cheaper and healthier. When I worked in London I regularly got the bus into work and then walked home afterwards - which was about four miles.

Bus and buy your season ticket from several stops from your house or work.

This! You may also be glad of the option to get off the bus outside your workplace if the weather is grim.

I only get a half hour lunch, so it’s not really feasible to get a good walk in

The bus ticket is just a pass that covers all of our local area. The bus up to the hospital doesn’t really stop much further away, it’s along a road that’s not really walkable

I’d use the bus.

It’s cheaper.

if the weather is dreadful you can go door to door.

If the weather is good you can walk to a further away bus stop or get off earlier and walk the last bit in.

Agree with others, get the bus and get off earlier. At least you have the option then when it’s peering down with rain!!! When I worked in London, I would always make myself go for a walk on my lunch hour.

Sorry, just seen your post. Maybe see how the train goes and then if it’s only paid monthly, you could swap in the winter months if necessary?

I’m usually pretty good at forcing myself to get out on a walk during my lunch anyway (or I was at my old job!), I’d be out in all weathers. It’s just the fact that there’s not really anywhere to walk from my building, and it’s only half an hour so not a ton of time to eat and walk!

Is the train route a totally different route to the bus then?

Otherwise how is walking 25 minutes to the same place safer from the train station than a further away bus stop?!

Yep! Train route follows the main road, bus route follows the back lanes. Really bizarre and one of the benefits of small town living 🙃

If the train is going to be an extra £60 a month, there’s genuinely no way you can either walk to a further bus stop to get on or get off earlier and walk further that end, and you’re really bothered about your steps then I’d say have a look on Fb marketplace and just buy a secondhand walking pad treadmill type thing and get some steps in at home before/after work, or walk outside.

I can see why the choice isn’t as linear as would first seem then!

Will you get a bus pass even if you use the train? So on awful weather days there would be the option of door to door or would you pay the daily ticket price of busing to the train station?

Incan see why you want to walk some distance though. I go stir crazy if I don’t walk at least 20-30 minutes a day!

Yeah the bus pass is non negotiable because parking at the station is extortionate! It’s only been one day and the lack of any sort of steps is doing my head in

Could you walk further to the bus at your end? Get on four stops further on or something.

I'd really begrudge paying £60 extra for a less convenient commute, but that's just me!

Maybe a couple but I don’t think it would be worth it! I’m going to try it out tomorrow and just see how it goes, and go from there 😂

Can you walk or drive to the station and leave your car 10/15 mins away without paying for parking? I have a walk of 20 mins either side of the train to work and absolutely love it. I started when my car died and now get 10,000 steps just on the commute. The weather is rarely poor but I have suitable outerwear when needed.

Get the bus and a walking pad

I did it in my last job. Not so much for the exercise but for a nicer commute, the train being far preferable to the bus IMO.

The walk was excellent at the start and end of the day for some good thinking time.

A good waterproof coat with a hood, and good waterproof gloves are a must, if you think you're going to carry on though winter.

A walking pad just feels like a waste of money to me because I don’t think I’d enjoy it

Yes I’m eyeing up a couple of coats from regatta, but I can’t bring myself to buy anything before I’ve been on holiday 🤣

I'd do the bus and train, no question, assuming the £60 isn't a deal breaker. Two hours a day on a bus is such a waste. if you walk briskly both ways, then that's your daily walk box ticked, and you've had some fresh air. 25 mins is doable in all but the worst weather I think.

Yeah, we’re a coastal town too so if it’s really snowing then the country has pretty much ground to a halt 🤣