iPhone app iPad app Android phone app Android tablet app More

Olympics 2012: Commuters Asked To 'Walk To Work'

The Huffington Post UK  |  By Posted: 14/05/2012 14:30 Updated: 15/05/2012 13:56

Amazing
 Inspiring
 Funny
 Scary
 Hot
 Crazy
 Important
 Weird
Commuters

Commuters are being asked to practise ‘walking to work’ this week, ahead of the Olympic Games.

This morning, commuters between London Bridge and Monument stations watched parkour acrobats perform aerial stunts, jumps and leaps - creating visual proof that these two sites are just a ‘hop, skip and a jump’ apart (i.e. walking distance).

During Living Streets’ Walk to Work Week, Transport for London (TfL) and Network Rail are encouraging those who will be travelling during London 2012 to learn how to make short journeys on foot.

New walking maps are being handed out at London Bridge Rail station, as well as other mainline and some underground stations, as London’s commuters are urged to start making plans for Games travel now.

Ben Plowden, Director of Planning, TfL Surface Transport, said: “London is going to be transformed into a gigantic sporting and cultural venue at Games-time, so London’s transport networks will, at certain times and in certain places, be exceptionally busy.

“Many people don’t realise how short distances are between many places in the capital – for example, it take just six minutes to walk from London Bridge train station to Monument, and there are 47 Tube journeys in central London that can be walked in under 10 minutes.”

Transport For London research from 2005 indicates 53% of all tube journeys made in central London would be faster if made on foot.

Visit Living Streets to log your miles, minutes and steps walked during Walk to Work Week.

Loading Slideshow...

  • Taiwanese people pray together during the Taiwan National Buddha's Birthday celebration in front of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan, Sunday, May 13, 2012. Buddha's birthday is celebrated in East Asia on the eighth day of the fourth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, and statutory on the second Sunday, Mother's Day, of May in Taiwan. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

  • An Indonesian helicopter carrying the bodies of victims of Wednesday's plane crash flies through Bogor, in West Java, Indonesia. Clearer weather finally allowed Indonesian helicopters to land Saturday and retrieve some remains of the 45 people aboard a Russian-made plane that crashed into the volcano during a demonstration flight. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)

  • Hawaian Coco Ho competes during the final of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Billabong Rio Pro women's surfing competition at Barra da Tijuca beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, May 13, 2012. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

  • Occupy demonstrators dance near the Bank of England, in central London. Picture date: Saturday May 12, 2012. The protest by several hundred demonstrators in the City of London was part of a global day of action that saw thousands of people rallying in cities including Moscow, New York, Athens and Madrid. See PA story PROTEST City. Photo credit should read: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire

  • The pack emerges from the fog during the eight stage of the Giro d'Italia, Tour of Italy cycling race, from Sulmona to Lago Laceno, Sunday, May 13, 2012. (AP Photo/Daniele Badolato)

  • Raindrops spatter the reflection of the Pittsburgh skyline reflected in water pooled atop a dugout at PNC Park before a scheduled baseball game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Houston Astros, Sunday, May 13, 2012. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

  • British rider Lee Richardson during an accident while racing for PGE Marma Rzeszow against Sparta Betard Wroclaw in Wroclaw, Poland, Sunday, May 13, 2012. Speedway rider Lee Richardson has died following a crash in Poland, his British team have confirmed. Richardson, 33, was competing for PGE Marma Rzeszow against Betard Sparta Wroclaw when he crashed into a safety fence.The Lakeside Hammers captain was taken to a hospital in Wroclaw but died from his injuries. (AP Photo/Piotr Walczak) POLAND OUT

  • Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany lifts the trophy following the Barclays Premier League match at the Etihad Stadium, Manchester. Picture date: Sunday May 13, 2012. See PA story SOCCER Man City. Photo credit should read: Peter Byrne/PA Wire.

  • The 75029 Green Knight passes under the Larpool Viaduct, near Whitby in North Yorkshire, on the final day of the popular North Yorkshire Moors Railway Spring Gala. Picture date: Sunday May 13, 2012. Green Knight was built in Swindon in 1956 and has recently returned to service after an extensive two year overhaul. Photo credit should read: Anna Gowthorpe/PA Wire

FOLLOW UK LIFESTYLE

Commuters are being asked to practise ‘walking to work’ this week, ahead of the Olympic Games. This morning, commuters between London Bridge and Monument stations watched parkour acrobats perf...
Commuters are being asked to practise ‘walking to work’ this week, ahead of the Olympic Games. This morning, commuters between London Bridge and Monument stations watched parkour acrobats perf...
 
 
  • Comments
  • 17
  • Pending Comments
  • 0
  • View FAQ
Post Comment Preview Comment
To reply to a Comment: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to.
View All
Recency  | 
Popularity
ggardiner86
27 Fans
01:26 PM on 05/15/2012
Boy am I glad I don't live in London at the moment..
Permalink  |
akmc
6 Fans
01:25 PM on 05/15/2012
Two points:
From what I hear from friends in the London area, unless they travel to work extremely early in the morning, they won't have any choice but to walk as they won't be allowed on the trains without an Olympic ticket.

This might just come back and bite "TfL", because there is a big difference between a survey (in 2005) telling commuters it would be quicker to walk, and actually making them experience it because it would be inconvenient for our image if the underground was all clogged up with commuters. Once they have had to do it for a few weeks, they may well decide to go on doing it and save their fares.
Permalink  |
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
mfa11e
Tell the truth ,regardless
196 Fans
11:37 AM on 05/15/2012
Quite right ,all Londoners should walk to work during the Olympics.No buses should run as that might infringe on the VIP cars special lanes travelling to and from their hotels we have paid for.All food outlets ,except those sponsoring the Olympics ,should be closed down and their signs covered to make sure TV coverage doesn't show them.Londoners should also cheer,bow and curtsy as the limo's pass by .After all its only for a few weeks,we can put up with it as it wont cause us any disruption.Nice to live in cloud cuckoo land
Permalink  |
purchaseorder
35 Fans
01:44 PM on 05/15/2012
What a gross exaggeration, there is no need to bow or courtesy when the limo’s pass, touching your forelock is perfectly adequate. A further alternative is repeating the gesture the English bowmen gave the French nobility at the battle of Agincourt.
Permalink  |
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
mfa11e
Tell the truth ,regardless
196 Fans
03:51 PM on 05/15/2012
I stand corrected.The archers salute will suffice
Permalink  |
photo
allansib
0 Fans
11:22 AM on 05/15/2012
Anyone with any sense knew back in 2005 when Britain managed to get itself saddled with staging these hideously expensive games that whatever transport infrastructure was added to London, it wouldn't be able to cope. Now we're two months away and the powers-that-be have finally admitted it.

I'm lucky, though - going to the beautiful west coast of Scotland for an Olympic-free holiday while it's on!
Permalink  |
kohl
64 Fans
09:42 AM on 05/15/2012
Typical luvvie "Do as I say. Not as I do". Commuters during the rush hour cross London Bridge like a Tsunami morning and evening. Others take trains for fairly short distances for any number of reasons that luvvies cant relate to since they dont lead normal lives anyway. Using acrobats etc., to try and get their message across only emphasises the isolated and decadent ideas thes people have.
Permalink  |
artisannes
34 Fans
 
09:35 AM on 05/15/2012
If London does not have the infrastructure to cope with the Games - which it clearly does not - we should never have bid for it. If this 'Walk to Work Week' had been a fitness campaign then ok, but to launch it because it is already known that the overcrowding is a problem is irksome.

Those who are in work are working longer hours in order to hold on to jobs. It is not just the walk, it is the additional time it will add to their day.

And somewhere, there must be a survey that outlines how far the average commuter travels. Without seeing that survey I know that the majority will not be travelling one or two stops.

Of course people will probably have to walk anyway because of the high chance of a tube strike, so it is all rather academic and the campaign is yet another unnecessary cost to tax payers who are paying to be patronised.
Permalink  |
SallyCycle
41 Fans
10:07 AM on 05/15/2012
You could always move out of London and see what it is like in the real world! We have a no tubes, trains, trams and a very, very limited bus service.

We like it that way as we have 'real' people living here, and not the moaning London brigade.

As I sit at my desk writing this I will only see sheep, cattle and possibly a distant tractor.
Permalink  |
artisannes
34 Fans
 
10:29 AM on 05/15/2012
I am not entirely sure what point you are trying to make.

The Olympics are being held in London and this story discussed transport in London and how the Olympics will affect that, hence the call to walk to work.

I am delighted you are happy in the country but London is the real world to those who live in it, so your post comes across as a dig at Londoners when no one in London was actively having a dig at those who live in the country.

It is like me replying to a story that says transport in the country is lacking by saying that in London we have a tube so those in the country should move to the real world and use it.
Permalink  |
SallyCycle
41 Fans
09:19 AM on 05/15/2012
Not before time.

We are becoming a society increasingly dependent on cars, vans, trains, trams etc. We need to get more exercise or we (the general population) will suffer when we get older.

Get out and walk or cycle to work. If you have showres at work, then use them for the sake of your co-workers!

Ask your employer about the cycle to work scheme. This will let you buy a bike upto £1,000 and pay a reduced payment on a monthly basis.

Whether you you walk, run or cycle to work you will fell the benefit. Yes, it will hurt/be uncomfortable to begin with, but after a few days or so you will feel so much more alive and invigorated.

Try it.
Permalink  |
Makalha
Opinions are not facts.
110 Fans
09:10 AM on 05/15/2012
Firstly they seem to be assuming that all these passengers are only going from one station to the next and secondly they don't know how far they walk before they catch the tube or after they get off. A few minutes walk might be fine for a fit person but a hard slog for others .
Permalink  |
sandeeleitch
1 Fans
07:37 PM on 05/14/2012
walk to work? No way, let the athletes do that
Permalink  |
photo
medlar
14 Fans
03:15 PM on 05/14/2012
So, having paid for the Olympics, and paid for their season ticket, they are now being encouraged not to use that season ticket and are being asked to clog up the streets instead...

...have a nice day, now!
Permalink  |