tubechallenge.com

A friend and I are going to attempt the Tube Challenge for the first time on Tuesday. We're still putting times to our attempted route - we're just doing it for fun, not to try and get a particularly good time. We were having issues finishing on time; starting from Chesham instead of Watford might have fixed that, it's hard to tell yet (as I said, I'm still putting times to it!). I might have to grovel for some last-minute route improvement tips if I still can't get it to work . We're finishing at Heathrow.

Looking at the TfL website, the number 79 bus ends up taking 17 minutes when you put it in a journey (apart from at a few times of day when it inexplicably takes 5). However, according to http://www.londonbusroutes.net/times/079.htm , they do indeed take five minutes. Is this because the journey planner assumes you arrive just after a bus leaves or something (ie the worst case)? Or is there something else odd going on?

Thanks!

Bus times on TFL journey planner are horrible. Google maps offers much more realistic figures, being easier to use than timetables. But, most importantly, on the day, use a bus countdown app to see what the reality is when you're actually there. Then you know whether to leg it or wait.

General route tips before I fall asleep... Cut corners on foot, avoid double backs, avoid visiting stations twice, and avoid unnecessary interchanges/reduce number of interchanges.

tfl will add the minimum time waiting for that bus as well 12 mins on average your journey will take around the 5-6 mins mark depending on traffic at time of day dont forget you actually have a choice of 5 buses for that journey you are taking.

What are the other 4, then? How long do they take?

There are 3 buses from Canons Park to Edgware, the 79, 186 and 340. They all go the same way so will all take the same time.

TfL's Spider bus maps are helpful. Usually, googling '(station) bus' will result in the appropriate map being found.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/gettingaround ... e-2075.pdf

There's the 142 from Stanmore and then another bus (I forget the number) that goes from the bottom of the hill (to the right when you come out) quarter of a mile from Stanmore.

You can get an app or use TfL live departures to help you decide whether to double back

Iain wrote:You can get an app or use TfL live departures to help you divide whether to double back

Awesome, one half of you can double back, the other can take the bus direct...!

lol - brain fart