As I used to live in London, I know that travelling to and from work can be a nightmare in rush hour, as it can be for commuters anywhere in the UK. It can also be particularly difficult to determine how long a journey might take to a new place of work although the Transport for London site is pretty useful for a guideline.
However, a new site called www.commutefrom.com, has been created by a 26-year-old commuter Ian Jones to try and help with this problem. Ian has combined information from more than 2,800 different routes to help users calculate how far a property is from the user's place of work. The good thing about this site is everything is free - for now. It also provides the user with the average property prices for that area, which could be really useful if you know nothing about London and you are considering moving there.
Jones explains his reasoning for creating the site: "My wife had just changed jobs, so we were both working in London. It made sense to move closer as we were spending over 2.5 hours a day on public transport. I ended up customising a train map, jotting down times for various journeys between work and around where we wanted to live. As cost was an important consideration, I then added house prices. It then struck me how it could be turned into an online resource that would be useful to a huge number of people."
To be honest there are a few flaws to this site, one of which Web User points out "underground routes are not included outside of Zone 1, only overland train lines" - OK this isn't great but it's still a free service. I put the site to the test today and unfortunately it does still appear quite basic. However, I think the idea is good and it could be a really useful research tool if you have friends or family who are considering moving to London.
Chris,
Thanks for checking out commutefrom. Its currently on its first major release, and there will be plenty more where that came from. There are loads of things on our to-do list, and the full tube network is high on the list.
If you have any suggestions on how we could improve the site, please don't hesitate to let us know.
Cheers,
Ian
@Ian - Thanks for your comments and the update. I think it's a good idea and a great starting point for people looking to move to the big smoke. Be sure to keep us updated. Thanks Chris