With a Summer of strikes on the horizon there may be little you can do when your usual route to work is disrupted or you experience long delays.

Commuters are already familiar with delays, cancellations and crowded public transport. This is something else to adapt to, manage and create a work around.

What commuting to work looks like now is very different from how it was pre-Pandemic. Many have made the permanent shift to working from home or working a more hybrid home/office pattern. Companies are in a better position to handle the disruption with more flexible ways of working for employees and staff.

Many people moved further away from their place of work during the pandemic. Either for a better work-life balance or forced to live further away due to property availability and increasing prices.

• 50-60% of the UK population still commute to work by car. Increasing fuel prices may see this change but it’s still the preferred option of getting to work.
• 75% commute less than 10 miles. 20% between 5-10 miles and 12% less than a mile.
• 20-25% are now working from home full-time, so, like me are less affected by the strikes.

The current round of strike days has been made public. You may have little control over your travel time but there may be options. Don’t add to the stress and pressure of trying to get to work, being late or missing meetings if you don’t have to.

What are your options?

1. Work from home for the day. We’ve got very used to this over the last two years. It may be relatively easy to slip back into working from home. It takes the pressure off you and also means less pressure on the remaining services for those who have to travel to work.

With no trains at all running on some routes, alternative routes may be busy or fully booked already. Long queues for buses, more cars on the road.

2. Leave early/late. If you need to travel, avoid peak times whenever possible. You may normally have an early start, especially with a longer commute into work. Get an even earlier or later train – if they’re running!

3. Go virtual. If you had face-to-face meetings planned, reschedule for a non-strike day. Use Zoom, Teams or FaceTime for a virtual meeting instead. You eliminate travel time and still get things done. A good option anyway to save time and be more productive, where in-person meetings are often a habit rather than a necessity.

4. Car share. If not with a neighbour or friend, check-out the car sharing apps, local groups and forums to find a lift. Get part way there, closer to work or near enough to finish the journey on foot.

5. Foot or pedal power. Increase your options or reduce delays by taking the bus, cycling or walking part or all of the way. Not an option for longer journeys but 75% of people commute less than 10 miles, 50% have a journey of less than 30 minutes. Cycling is an option, especially if you live in a town with cycle lanes or a public bike scheme.

Even with my level of fitness, it takes about 45 minutes to cycle the 8 miles into my nearest town and it’s not all flat!

I have walked that distance too but that was a while ago and it did take me 2 1/2 hours. Once in the Summer when it was a pleasant walk back on a sunny afternoon. Once in the winter when the traffic was so snarled up, it was quicker than waiting for the bus! Not practical on a daily basis or when it’s pouring with rain or blowing a gale.

I’ve even known people who run(!) or cycle 10-15 miles to and from the office as part of their training routine! Great if you’re training but not for the average commuter.

The added bonus is you get your exercise in at the start and end of the day. It gives you time to switch off between home and work and saves going to the gym.

You might find an alternate means of transport you actually prefer. Which is what happened for one client. They realised their walk to work didn’t actually take them that much longer. They could take a more direct route, didn’t have to sit in traffic and saved time (and money) trying to find somewhere to park.

What does your daily commute look like?

What have you done to avoid or adjust to strikes, delays and cancellations?

Sources:

What does the typical daily commute look like? (Project Solar)

Duration of the daily commute in the UK. (Statista)