PSA for Londoners on the Tube.

[abendgules]

Tube strike starts just before 7pm.
From my workplace, at the pointy north end of the Northern line, the last train available leaves at 5.28 pm so it can end its journey at 7pm at the south end.
So if you're Tubing to get home today, confirm the last available train on TfL well before you leave.
I'm checking today to confirm that I can log in from home, so chances are I can work from home.

The bright side: LCC is running guided bike rides to 'Bike the Strike' along some major bike commuting routes, to show nervous cyclists the way. I think it's a brilliant way to introduce folks to commuter cycling. And extra bike parking is available during the strike at major Tube/train stations.

It feels like there's a serious, sustained push to get more Londoners to cycle. It's rather cool, really.

Comments

[armillary.livejournal.com]

*bows*
Hello from the crazy Swede you met a week ago - I've seen you on LJ before but didn't know who you were.

How bad is bike theft in London? I used to bike everywhere in Gothenburg, but quit after the third bike got stolen. Thinking of getting a bike, since we won't have a car and going by tube all the time gets expensive.

[bend-gules.livejournal.com]

Hi ho,
The only fair answer is - it depends.
One friend had a bike a year stolen, and simply considered it the cost of living in London. I've heard this a lot.

I've been riding the same bike since I arrived in 2002, using it semi-regularly, and had no problem. I lock it carefully, every time, but so far only use a basic U lock.

Certainly the police say there's lots of theft, and have an annual auction of recovered bikes.

However, I ride an old-fashioned 10-speed, 20+ years old, a bit rusty, w/ ugly handlebars and very skinny tires, so I don't think it's a good choice for thieves.

So I think one solution is to ride a cheap and ugly bike rather than a good one, and invest in a good lock - and, obviously, store it indoors overnight.

You can also add your bike to your contents insurance for your flat - both our bikes are insured.

Does this mean you're thinking of moving? :-)

[armillary.livejournal.com]

More than just thinking, by now... it's only a month left of work, and then I'm out of here to join the fashionably unemployed in London.

I used to ride crappy bikes here too. Didn't help - the last one was a '60s model with plenty of rust. It lasted a couple of months, and then it was gone. Then again, I had to bust the lock open myself (with my hands - it was that shoddy) after an unsuccessful attempt to steal it.

[siglinde99.livejournal.com]

It's nice to know some people take cycle commuting seriously. I read a rant against cyclists in the paper yesterday (the kind who wear spamdex and break the rules). I'm the kind the writer likes, but I nearly got hit twice yesterday on my way home. Most of the people I know who would like to ride to work prefer to take the bus because they find the challenges of downtown Ottawa too stressful. I'm not sure if they would be any happier in a place like London, mind you.

[j-v-lynch.livejournal.com]

That would have been a great thing to do here during the strike. If it hadn't been January/February.

[bend-gules.livejournal.com]

Strikes here, so far, are not like ones in Can/US. They're scheduled well in advance, and last 1-2 days.
While there's lots of bluster, they aren't the bitter last resort that I experienced in Ottawa. It's more like the period when the OCTranspo drivers refused to wear uniforms, or did slow-drives, refusing to pass each other, to slow down service.
It's an interruption, and a serious PITA, but it's not an open-ended staring match to see who will flinch first. Those seem to have died w/ Thatcher.
I followed the OCTranspo strike in the news. They must have been desperate to be willing to lose so much public support with a winter strike.