Take a bus, a cab, a car? Sure, if you’ve got the extra two hours or so to spare that it will take you to navigate the congested streets during rush hour. But what other options are there? Even if you managed to take the two days off, you’ll have to catch up with all that work at some point – so is it really worth wasting a day of paid leave, especially considering that you can’t get anywhere anyway?
Arranging an alternative solution can be hard, especially when you need it at the last minute. This is why we want to offer you some great ideas on how to avoid the tube strike chaos. They might just save your week.
Get a Personalised Route Plan: Do you know which lines are closed, which are open, and how often trains run along the open lines? TFL has provided long pages on this but who has the time to plough through all that? Luckily, YourLondonPlanner are running a special promotion right now: they’ll plan your journey for you, completely free of charge – all you need to do is provide them with the start point, destination and time of your trip. This solution works brilliantly if you know at least 24 hours in advance where you’re going, which makes it ideal for your daily commute. This lot are funded entirely by donations, so if you find their website handy, show them a bit of love and part with a few pounds.
Take a bike: Barclay’s bikes are available at a large number of docking stations across the city. Particularly for short commutes, they’re the ideal alternative to the tube during the strike, which is why they’ll be in high demand this week, especially during peak times. Before you head out of the house, check the Barclays Cycle Hire Map for bicycle availability in your area. You don’t want to be running around from one docking station to the next looking for a bike when you’re pressed for time.
Consult a Strike Map: Personalised route plans are great when you can plan your journey in advance. But what about spontaneous trips? Again, complicated charts full of text are no use when you’re in a hurry. Flickr-User IanVisits has answered our yet-unspoken cries for an actually useful overview of the situation and created this very handy map, which shows all the tube lines that will likely run during the strike. This way, you will see at a glance whether your journey is affected by the strike and which alternate routes you can take.
Take to the Streets: One of the main tourist attractions in London are city walks. There’s a good reason for this: London is a fascinating city, rich with many different facets of culture, history, architecture and nature. For centuries, London has had an irresistible pull on poets and painters, and yet day by day, we choose to rush through the city in the dark below the ground. If your commute is short enough to allow for this option, you should definitely consider walking to the office during the strike. You might gain a new perspective on the city you live in – not to mention the health benefits.
Work from home: Even if you have a lot of meetings planned for this week, working from home is always an option. Online meeting tools allow you to move your entire schedule to the virtual conferencing room, so that you don’t have to sacrifice productivity while you stay at home. Mikogo provides a free 14-day trial account, which is more than enough to survive the 48-hour strike. This business trial includes all features and is easy to use for any beginner, no IT expertise required. You’ll be able to get started right away, and won’t have to spare the Tube another thought.
Image credit: Thinkstock
