Commuting to Canary Wharf - advice sought

On Sat, 24 Jan 2009, Tom Crispin wrote:

On Sat, 24 Jan 2009 12:48:08 -0800 (PST), "
wrote:

Appreciate any advice from folks with experience of commuting this
route with bike, i.e. Paddington or Waterloo to Canary Wharf.

I'd focus on Paddington, because the Waterloo trains take absolutely
forever.

Apart from a short section through Islington, the Regent's Canal towpath
will take you more or less door to door on a motor traffic free route.

There's also a bit near Paddington that's closed to cycles too, or at
least it was last time i tried it. According to a recent map, it's between
Lisson Green and Little Venice:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/mm?ie=...e77a59280b8a10

It's not much, but it does make the final approach to Paddington annoying.

Oh, and there's a bit through Camden that's not marked as a cycle route on
the TfL map, but i think it is cyclable.

I expect the Regent's Canal journey would take about 90 minutes. The
most direct road route would probably take about half that time.

Yes.

tom

--
In the long run, we are all dead. -- John Maynard Keynes

On Sun, 25 Jan 2009 04:53:55 -0800 (PST), said
in
:

" Oxford Street is still bisected by a panting wall of red metal. Can
we really leave it as it is? "

Ha! Whatever his faults, Boris certainly knows how to turn a phrase.

Guy
--
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On 25 Jan, 15:22, "Just zis Guy, you know?"
wrote:

Ha! Whatever his faults, Boris certainly knows how to turn a phrase.

Mmmm lots of faults - but he used the idea again at the Future London
conference :

"... you won’t necessarily see many allotments as you cycle from
Paddington to the Olympics, but you might if for example, you go
through Oxford Street. I hope you will see far fewer busses that
steel wall of shuddering red metal throbbing and panting and blocking
people’s path across what should be one of the best shopping areas of
Europe....."

On Sun, 25 Jan 2009 12:45:06 +0000, Phil Cook
wrote:

Which in a nutshell is to close the street to all traffic and run
trams down it.

NO! Trolley busses, please! I nearly came off my bike today when my
front wheel got caught between widely spaced cobbles. Tram lines are
even worse for cyclists.

On Sun, 25 Jan 2009, JNugent wrote:

Tom Anderson wrote:
On Sun, 25 Jan 2009, Phil Cook wrote:

Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:

If you want to see some *real* traffic holdups, try the bus jams on
Oxford Street.

I've seen them, and marvelled at the sheer stupidity of it.

The Lib Dems have a good idea here
http://glalibdems.org.uk/news/000298...trianised.html

Which in a nutshell is to close the street to all traffic and run
trams down it.

Ken was pushing the same idea at some point. I think everyone agrees it's a
good idea, it's just a question of finding the money for it.

The only problem is what you do with all the bus routes that go down it. Do
you send them via other routes, thus making those roads more congested? Or
do you cut them in half, turning round at (new bus stations at) Marble Arch
and St Giles's Circus, thus eliminating cross-London routes?

Would a "bus journey" from (say) Holborn Circus to Notting Hill Gate
then automatically involve a walk from St Giles to Marble Arch?

No, a tram ride from St Giles to Marble Arch. The plan is to close the
street to motor traffic *and* run trams down it.

tom

--
In the long run, we are all dead. -- John Maynard Keynes

On Sun, 25 Jan 2009, Tom Crispin wrote:

On Sun, 25 Jan 2009 12:45:06 +0000, Phil Cook
wrote:

Which in a nutshell is to close the street to all traffic and run
trams down it.

NO! Trolley busses, please! I nearly came off my bike today when my
front wheel got caught between widely spaced cobbles. Tram lines are
even worse for cyclists.

Don't ride over them, then.

Unfortunately, the numbers work out (AIUI) such that trams have a huge
advantage along Oxford street - trolleybuses don't do much better than
normal buses.

tom

--
In the long run, we are all dead. -- John Maynard Keynes

On Sun, 25 Jan 2009 18:31:34 +0000, Tom Anderson
wrote:

NO! Trolley busses, please! I nearly came off my bike today when my
front wheel got caught between widely spaced cobbles. Tram lines are
even worse for cyclists.

Don't ride over them, then.

It's not riding over them that is a problem. It is riding into them
that causes the damage - and that is never done deliberately.

Unfortunately, the numbers work out (AIUI) such that trams have a huge
advantage along Oxford street - trolleybuses don't do much better than
normal buses.

If the road is closed to all through motor traffic, I am sure that a
simple shuttle bus service would have sufficient capacity for shoppers
and short hop commuters.

Many thanks for all the useful advice.

I did some exploring round CW yesterday. I've got to say, the part
from Blackfriars eastwards thru the underpass, and along Thames St
didn't look a particularly pleasant prospect for a cyclist, though
there are various ways of avoiding this by a more northerly route I
guess (Between Padd and Blackfriars I've not problem with as I used to
take the same route as Guy described for years when I worked in
Finsbury Sq). Overall though Padd to CW does look do-able by bike the
whole way, and would certainly keep me fit.

I also looked at cycling to Bank and taking the DLR from there - only
11 mins. The major problem with this though is lugging my Brompton
around Bank station down escalators and along corridors to the DLR
platform. It would clearly be a right fag, and I suspect the DLR gets
pretty crowded at rush hour.

The main discovery I made was the ferry service - Thames Clippers -
which provide a surpisingly frequent and reasonably fast service
between Embankment and Canary Wharf (every 20 mins, with 30 mins
journey time, or 20 mins from Blackfriars). I'm probably going to try
the whole commute by bike, and, if this proves too far, cycle as far
as Embankment or Blackfriars and take the ferry from there. Could be a
nice compromise. I can't understand why there's not a lot more river
transport in London. Seems the perfect way of getting around.

Cheers, Reg

On Sun, 25 Jan 2009, Tom Crispin wrote:

On Sun, 25 Jan 2009 18:31:34 +0000, Tom Anderson
wrote:

NO! Trolley busses, please! I nearly came off my bike today when my
front wheel got caught between widely spaced cobbles. Tram lines are
even worse for cyclists.

Don't ride over them, then.

It's not riding over them that is a problem. It is riding into them
that causes the damage - and that is never done deliberately.

Fair point!

Unfortunately, the numbers work out (AIUI) such that trams have a huge
advantage along Oxford street - trolleybuses don't do much better than
normal buses.

If the road is closed to all through motor traffic, I am sure that a
simple shuttle bus service would have sufficient capacity for shoppers
and short hop commuters.

....

Have you actually ever been to Oxford Street?

tom

--
In the long run, we are all dead. -- John Maynard Keynes

On Sun, 25 Jan 2009 12:47:12 -0800 (PST), "
said in
:

I did some exploring round CW yesterday. I've got to say, the part
from Blackfriars eastwards thru the underpass, and along Thames St
didn't look a particularly pleasant prospect for a cyclist, though
there are various ways of avoiding this by a more northerly route I
guess (Between Padd and Blackfriars I've not problem with as I used to
take the same route as Guy described for years when I worked in
Finsbury Sq). Overall though Padd to CW does look do-able by bike the
whole way, and would certainly keep me fit.

You can avoid the underpass by going through the service road,
Thames Street is OK, it is wide enough to have a scooter lane that
cyclists are probably allowed to use as well (sarcasm). The run
down to the underpass is downhill so not a problem.

But the offer stands: if you want a bike buddy, feel free to send me
email. I ride that route, though not tomorrow as it's my birthday
mystery treat outing.

And now back to playing with my new Bachmann Deltic. Which is very
good indeed.

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk
85% of helmet statistics are made up, 69% of them at CHS, Puget Sound
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