I have the joy of living in London. This includes many amazing things: the history, the architecture, the museums, the beer but there is one thing that blights the London experience for me - the Tube.
That's right the London Underground is my pet hate. Don't get me wrong it's a brilliant transport system - people make 24 million journeys on it every day (tfl.gov.uk). But that is the issue for a 6' 3" guy, I just don't fit in very well. So for a quantified self project I wanted to not just help myself solve this, but create something that will help others. So I came up with...
The London Runderground.
Every year about 15 million international tourists come to London and they move round primarily on the tube. But they have no other option if they want to visit the sights, right? No Wrong! Why not run between the attractions?
To prove the benefits I have tried to be as fair as possible. I didn't train for the runs, I didn't do it on a nice cool day (it was a stifling London day), I just rocked up in a pair of trainers and my iPhone (to use RunKeeper.com) and ran. I have just used the tfl.gov.uk website to calculate the tube journeys but these don't take in to account:
Here are my results - and trust me it is a lot nicer than riding the tube for nine journeys (and cheaper!!). Plus, I made a couple of journeys faster. Oh and the biggest benefit is I could enjoy my fish and chips in the evening as I had already worn off the "treat".
That's right the London Underground is my pet hate. Don't get me wrong it's a brilliant transport system - people make 24 million journeys on it every day (tfl.gov.uk). But that is the issue for a 6' 3" guy, I just don't fit in very well. So for a quantified self project I wanted to not just help myself solve this, but create something that will help others. So I came up with...
The London Runderground.
Every year about 15 million international tourists come to London and they move round primarily on the tube. But they have no other option if they want to visit the sights, right? No Wrong! Why not run between the attractions?
To prove the benefits I have tried to be as fair as possible. I didn't train for the runs, I didn't do it on a nice cool day (it was a stifling London day), I just rocked up in a pair of trainers and my iPhone (to use RunKeeper.com) and ran. I have just used the tfl.gov.uk website to calculate the tube journeys but these don't take in to account:
- The time to get from the attraction to the station
- The time to get down to the platform once at the station (there are a lot of escalators)
- Delays
- Line closures
Here are my results - and trust me it is a lot nicer than riding the tube for nine journeys (and cheaper!!). Plus, I made a couple of journeys faster. Oh and the biggest benefit is I could enjoy my fish and chips in the evening as I had already worn off the "treat".
