commuting during a tube strike

[Steppylud]

I havent cycled to work for a couple of weeks and the urge has struck to do it tomorrow. Question is, are the roads busier or quieter into and out of london during a tube strike? I am thinking it could go either way, on one hand people just wont bother and stay at home or will there be more cars, bikes and buses to contend with?

 

[ianrauk]

I've always found it no different. It is actually a bit quieter traffic wise at the moment as there is no school run.

 

[Dan B]

Likewise, between e17 and ec2 I couldn't even have told there was a strike on, last time around

 

[Steppylud]

I've always found it no different. It is actually a bit quieter traffic wise at the moment as there is no school run.

That is actually a good point, I haven't ridden in since the schools broke up.

 

[marihino]

I bought my current bike one day after the last tube strike. On the day of the strike, I spent 7 (SEVEN) hours on buses. On a non-strike day, it would have been a total of two hours on a bus combined with the tube, or three hours on a bus. So yeah, the traffic was quite a bit heavier than usual, at some spots there was just a long line of vehicles pretty much not moving, maybe a couple of meters every few minutes. I also drove a van from Battersea to Knightsbridge in early afternoon that day, and it took almost an hour. 10-15 minutes normally. So there. Just my experience.

 

[Markymark]

Hmm, my experience is tgat it is busier. I find it harder as the junctions are more snarled and there's more sudden u-turns and frustrated drivers in central London. I have to be more cautious and it takes me a bit longer.

 

[slowmotion]

I didn't notice any difference in the traffic today. There seemed to be more pedestrians on the pavements so I took extra care to be alert for random lemming-like behaviour.

 

[Steppylud]

hmm, on balance and the fact that i am going on holiday on Sunday, the train wins this time.

 

[Twizit]

I've always found it no different. It is actually a bit quieter traffic wise at the moment as there is no school run.

Don't know about this week as I'm away but during the last strike it was carnage on my usual route through central London. Could hardly move along the embankment and it took until Putney for the traffic to thin out to normal levels.

Still a lot more preferable cycling compared to other options mind you!!

 

[Tynan]

Boris biking from Liverpool St to High Holborn and back at present and the roads were even worse than normal on strike day, some/most of the cyclists along that road are always appalling but the last strike day set new standards of idiotic and dangerous riding, much from day trippers on boris bikes but plenty from regular commuters that seem to think they were better than anyone on a Boris bike and therefore entitled to undertake, cut up, push past etc etc