I’ve decided to try and change my commute from driving, to getting the bus.

There are several reasons for this — it’s way cheaper to get the bus, it’s better for the environment, and the traffic and roads around Manchester and Trafford mean I spend over an hour and a half each day sat behind a wheel.

This is dead time.

My hypothesis is this:

1: getting the bus instead of the car will save me money

2: getting the bus instead of car will be better for the environment

3: I will be a more productive person

So, to test these hypotheses, I’m committing to four weeks of commuting by bus. I’ve set up a CommuteWatch spreadsheet (HT to Dan Barrett’s #meetingwatch spreadsheets!) , and will give regular updates. I will write up my 'findings' at the end of the four weeks.

This is a brief breakdown of my journey, by the two modes.

By car

Time

I live in sale, which is about ten miles south of the city centre (as the crow flies). My drive into the city centre is pretty straightforward, and at 7am, takes me around 25 minutes. Once parked, I have a 5 minute walk to the office (while at Swirrl) or a 10 minute walk (while at Federation).

The return journey is a different matter. Leaving at around half four, the walk back to the car’s the same, but the drive. Oh the drive. Anyone who tries to drive out of Manchester into Trafford in the evening will understand. And I guess this is what partly caused Mayor Andy Burnham to tweet asking for ideas how to relieve congestion.

It takes just over an hour to do those same 10 miles, and is rotten. Imagine choosing to spend an hour of every day trying to work out whether the Google Maps traffic thing is right, which lane in Stretford is closed, and watching everyone desperately trying to stop anyone getting in front of them. Someone actually got a gun pulled on them on the mancunian way last year, because he didn’t let someone else in front of him.

Money

I park in one of the cheap bits of wasteland in the Northern Quarter, which costs a fiver a day. If I’m late, and that car park’s full, I have to go next door, which costs £8.20.

In terms of petrol, I probably use two tanks a month — about £130. This includes weekend excursions.

BUT I can claim these back from my company — so at 49p a mile, I actually claim around £10 a day in mileage. For a 20 working-day month, this works out at £200 = Profit! Sort of.

Productivity

Actually zero. Probably even negative because of the bad vibes.

Environment

I can’t work this out, but I basically have a 3.0l petrol automatic car. I imagine there’s someone who can equate this to cows.

By bus

The view from my bus stop. That tree makes me anxious that the driver won’t see me with my arm stuck out

In Manchester, we have a load of different operators doing buses. Other people know much more about this than me, but it seems to mean that monthly tickets are operator-specific. This is ok for me, because the only bus I can get in is the 263 (or Sapphire, as Arriva have branded it).

The 263 bus service, rebranded to Sapphire by two Stormtroopers

The 263 is a regular (every 15 mins) bus that runs from Altrincham to Manchester and back. It takes about an hour, and follows a similar route to my car journey, except it takes in the famous Oxford Road — busiest bus corridor in Europe, and a great place to witness the madness of multiple bus-operators jockeying for position.

Time

I live a 10 minute walk from the bus stop, and I’m aiming to get the 6:58, which is timetabled to get into town at about 07:40. Pretty acceptable.

The return journey will probably take a bit longer — suspect the timetable gets ripped up during rush hour, but I’m expecting my home journey to add about half an hour — taking it to an hour and a half including walking. But, I’m willing to give this a go, because:

Productivity

I reckon this is going to be the big win for me. An hour and a half on a bus is time I can be doing stuff. Emails, blogs, adding to #brexitgifs, tutorials, talks, papers, reports, munging, merging, mashing, mixing. So much time. In fact, I’m writing this ON THE BUS.

META

Some of the Sapphire buses do seem to have free WiFi and USB charging points. But I don’t want to use these, because of the risk of infection. If someone can explain to me that I’m being unreasonably paranoid, I would appreciate it.

Money

The four-weekly ticket from Arriva costs £52. This works out at £2.60 per day. Which I reckon is good value. Cheaper than petrol, anyway.

Environment

Again, bus vs car. I know it’s better, but I don’t know how much.

The thrilling conclusion

So there it is. I’ll be reporting back in four weeks, but I’m pretty hopeful that this is going to be a positive experience! One commenter asked why I wouldn’t get the Met(rolink). Honestly — I’ve tried it before. It’s an extra 15 minute walk from my house, twice the price, I couldn’t work on it because there aren’t really any seats, and when it’s busy, it’s hell on rails.

As a footnote — I’d really like to ride a bike to work, but:

I’m scared. I get very cold hands.

If these things could be fixed — that’d be great.