The journey on foot and by train - Friday 22 June

  • Distance: 7.07 miles
  • Journey time: 53 mins 37 secs
  • Cost: £2.90 (train ticket)
Today's commute began with a walk to Attenborough train station, which took just over half an hour. 

All the commutes I've done this week have been accompanied by bright skies with not a hint of rain, and as I walked in the sunshine this morning I had to admit that if the weather had been wet and cold this week the temptation to use the car instead of walking to reach public transport routes would have been difficult to resist.

Yesterday evening I was interviewed about my commuting experiments by BBC Radio Nottingham and ended my conversation with presenter Verity Cowley with an invitation to listeners who normally commute to Nottingham by car to consider if they might be able to try a different method today. Even one day of cycling or walking or using public transport can make a positive difference to air quality. I'll never know if anyone did anything different but I hope that maybe one or two did.

Due to the 31 minute walk, today's journey wasn't as quick as the car or the bike, but the speed of the East Midlands Train service meant it was still faster overall than the tram and the bus. It took 12 minutes for the train to reach Nottingham Station, a quicker journey than I'd imagined beforehand. My watch, which has GPS, beeped to tell me that it had recorded its fastest-ever one mile section - 58 seconds! The return ticket on the train cost £2.90, which I regarded as good value considering a day ticket on the tram costs £4 and the one-way bus trip from Toton on Wednesday cost £2.60.

As I walked the last half mile from Nottingham station to my office, I crossed Carrington Street behind two buses waiting at a bus stop and, as they pulled away, noticed that one of them was electric-powered. The graphics on the back of the bus confirmed its green credentials and I barely heard an acceleration note from the engine as it began to move.

As someone who uses the roads every day, I was surprised that I was surprised I'd never noticed an electric-powered bus in Nottingham before. There are loads of them, apparently, but as a cyclist I'm focused on being alert to the movement of other vehicles and not so much what they look like or the noise they make, especially as this noise is competing for my consciousness with the sound of the air passing my ears as I ride and the low level hiss of every nearby vehicle's rolling rubber tyres contacting the road surface.

The verdict

 So, which method of transport this week did I prefer, considering the factors of cost, convenience and comfort?

  1. Bicycle - Cycling is a passion for me...it's my 'normal' and was always likely to be my favoured commuting mode.
  2. Walk and train - In terms of the speed of the journey and value for money, it shaded the walk/tram combination even though the tram day involved shorter walks.
  3. Walk and tram - I really thought this combination would be second only to the bike because the tram is such a smooth and reliable ride, but the speed and lower cost of using the train edged it into third.
  4. Walk and bus - Despite not being a particularly comfortable journey, the bus was perfectly adequate and it dropped me closer to my office than the car park I used when I drove.
  5. The car - The most expensive trip, factoring in the car park charge, but quick and comfortable. I know that on a rainy day, it would be a very persuasive option, but, even so, I would most likely only use it to drive as far as the tram station or, judging by today, the train station instead!
Thanks for stopping by. Happy commuting!

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