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.

I find relying on bus connections really hard so having to do two of them would be the dealbreaker for me.

I always found that the bus and train never quite married up so I’d have to leave super early to make sure I was there on time. So on that basis I’d take the bus the whole way and use the time for other things - listen to books, podcasts. Learn a language or something like that.

Train and bike

I don't think I'd be prepared to pay extra to have a commute that must then surely end up over an hour? I think I'd either see about cycling, or walking from my house to get a bus further along the route. Or maybe getting a flexible session ticket (8 days in 28) so I could mix and match.

Id get the bus. Rainy days id read, sunny days id get off early and walk

I may have missed it, but counting in the walk at the other end, how long is the commute each way by train ?

If you don’t need to buy a long term pass, I would try each for a month. £60 per month is roughly the cost of a gym, so if you’re walking 50 minutes each day that goes a long way for your base fitness.

About 45 minutes in total - so more expensive but shorter. I think I’ve found another bus route that would work. So I’ll try that out tomorrow. I just need something to keep me exercising! I was going stir crazy yesterday afternoon without any movement 🤣

I'd get the bus and get off early and walk on the homebound leg (unless he weather was too bad). That way I could bring a coffee and read or listen to a podcast on the way in, then decompress with a walk at the end of the day.

I've done a commute that was bus-train-bus and relying on connections is an absolute nightmare and to be avoided where possible.

I wouldn't like a double-public transport route - you'll end up needing to line up two things that aren't usually consistent (unless both the bus and train are quite regular?)

I'd focus on one form of transport and see what you can figure out - a different bus route that stops a couple (better) miles away, something involving a bike if you are comfortable with that.

Mix it up. Train one day, bus the next.
or go for a walk when you get home.

I walk for 40 minutes rather than drive to work. I have waterproof trousers for if it's raining really heavily. It doesn't bother me, but I learnt to drive late in life, so was used to walking everywhere by that point. If I didn't have walking my dogs and walking to work as part of my routine I would barely get any steps in. Tried driving to work and using a treadmill in the time I'd 'saved', but could never be arsed to actually stick with it.