..and why I’m excited about the rollout of dockless bicycle sharing systems in London.
My commute is around 11km long, it is Zone 3 to Zone 1. Generally I avoid peak times.
Ofo and Urbo are the dockless systems listed here. (Mobike doesn’t yet work for me, in terms of their borough rollout). Their current footprints don’t include either my start or finish location, so a walk is required at each end (and between them, when changing).
| Mode | Time | Cost | Notes/section times |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walk | 130 min | £0.00 | 45 mins to jog (or 60 mins via the scenic route) – can’t do that every day though! |
| Santander Cycles membership + walk | 100 min | £0.23 | 20+80. £90/year, 200 jnys |
| Dockless membership (future?) | 35 min | £0.27 | Door to door. Based on £10/month for 11 months (Mobike). However is high risk as requires high bike availability. |
| Dockless (future?) + walk | 45 min | £0.50 | 30+15 |
| Ofo (current) + day walk | 60 min | £0.50 | 15+30+15 |
| Ofo (current) + night walk | 75 min | £0.50 | 15+30+30 |
| My bicycle | 30 min | £0.75 | Get through a £300 bike (or parts)/year |
| Dockless (future?) | 35 min | £1.00 | Door to door |
| Ofo + Urbo (current) + walk | 70 min | £1.00 | 15+30+5+15+5 |
| Santander Cycles + walk | 100 min | £1.00 | 20+80 |
| Tube Z3-2 + walk | 55 min | £1.50 | 30+25. 20p more for peak. |
| Bus | 65 min | £1.50 | 2 buses – hopper fare |
| Tube Z3-2 + Santander Cycles membership | 40 min | £1.73 | 30+10. 20p more for peak. |
| Tube Z3-2 + a bike for commute | 40 min | £2.25 | 30+10. 20p more for peak. |
| Tube Z3-2 + Santander Cycles | 40 min | £2.50 | 30+10. 20p more for peak. SC £2/day = £1/jny |
| Tube Z3-2 + bus season | 45 min | £2.55 | 30+15 |
| Tube Z3-1 + walk | 25 min | £2.80 | 15+10. 50p more for peak. |
| Tube Z3-2 + bus | 45 min | £3.00 | 30+15. 20p more for peak. |
Some notes:
- Annual membership of Santander Cycles is scandalously cheap. If you are lucky enough to live in the Santander Cycle zone, then you really are getting a very good deal.
- Sure I could save a lot of money (or time) by jogging twice a day, but my legs would probably give out after a few days of that!
- Tube travel, avoiding Zone 1, remains a great bargain London. It’s a pity my work is just a bit too far inside the Zone 1 boundary – but then, that’s why the boundary is where it is.
- I’m not including commute options that cost more than £10 (taxis, Uber etc). This includes driving, as the London Congestion Charge is £12/day and it is hard to park cheaply (or for free) just outside it!
- It suprised me that it costs nearly £1 to cycle on my own bike each time, until I realised I spend around £300 a year, either on a new bike, or on repairs/components/tools for the existing one.