Yesterday morning someone suggested cycling to meet a friend in Morges so I agreed, despite having been for a 7.5km run with another group from 07:00 to 08:00 the same morning. I had enough time to have lunch, and then to sprint to Gland from Nyon. I sprinted because I didn’t know how long the trip would take....
Posts tagged “transport”
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A Ride to Morges and Back to See Tulips — Apr 28, 2026 -
On Valuing Social Networks Over Social Media — Mar 26, 2026I believe that is wrong for a society dependent on cars to ban children from mobile phones and related tech. I believe that it is wrong because you create two problems. The first is that in a car centric society, where we go to school, is not where we live, so if we want to be social on weekends or after school we need transport. The second reason is that with car-centric societies we are isolating those that do not have simplified access to going out and seeing friends....
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On the Potential of Self-Driving Cars — Dec 6, 2015When people write about self-driving cars they write from the perspective of people living in cities. I live in the Swiss countryside at the foot of the Jura which results in me seeing the potential of self-driving cars differently. For a start at the moment buses operate from 5 in the morning to 9 in the afternoon. There is a tow hour gap at lunchtime when there is no service and at other times the frequency is once an hour, except at rush hour. When self-driving cars are available I see the bus and taxi services being discontinued. I also see the space dedicated to parking in cities vanishing. I see cars being used to connect villages to town. You get into the self-driven car and it takes you to the train station. From the train station in Nyon you get to Geneva or Lausanne. From Geneva or Lausanne you have trains and buses to take you to your final destination if you are either recovering from an injury or carrying too much weight. Scuba diving and winter sports require a lot of gear so a self-driven car would be helpful. I also see self-driving cars as being great for teenagers living in the countryside. Self-driving cars will provide a 24 hour per day transportation. This means that teenagers will be able to take the last train home and catching a self-driven car from the train station to home. I see this as being just as useful for grown ups who like to have more than one drink when out socialising with friends. For now society believe in designated drivers. With self-driving cars the designated driver will be a thing of the past. The train will transport you from the train station to your home. It will also provide country bumpkins with the opportunity to stay out even after the last train. It will equalise city slickers and country bumpkins. On weekends when groups meet up to do activities self-driving cars will be of great use. At the moment when you hike or do Via Ferrata there is a need for wide open spaces where cars can be parked and sit for hours. Self-driving cars would bring people to the hiking or via Ferrata base and drop people off. These cars will be able to return to active use in the region until activity participants return to the starting point ready to return home. Car ownership would be replaced by car allocation. For now when cars are not used they are parked and space is used for them to get in and out of that parking space. Space is also needed for the car driver and passengers to get in. When cars drive themselves that space will no longer be needed. Car will be parked as they are on ferries. Only a few centimeters are left between cars and unloading is one row or row at a time. Parking could be designed to maximise space and efficiency. Mobile phones and smart watches can also be used to increase efficiency at rush hour. When two or more people are heading from the same train station to the same village their smart devices will see this and allocate a parking bay or vehicle with a display to show the name of the destination village. For now the limitation with buses is that they have a set route. If you are at the end of the route you have to wait for everyone to be dropped off and this can add minutes to your journey time. Self-driven cars you would be routed straight to your village square and walk from there. The point of self-driving cars would be to minimise waiting times. Rather than wait from half an hour to an hour for a bus you would be taken home within 10 minutes of arriving at the train station. Cities and traffic lights today are designed for human drivers, whether for trams, buses, cars, cyclists, pedestrians or motorbikes. In the self-driven future we could do away with traffic lights. Traffic flow in cities will be reduced because trains and public transport will make it easy and convenient to get from point A to point B. In a city like Geneva where the system is nodal from the centre out we would have private transport to go between distances where a 15-minute walk is needed. The point is to reduce the need for people to go from the periphery to the centre and then back out to the periphery. The point of self-driving cars would be to maximise network efficiency and provide people with a smooth and efficient way to commute and participate in social activities. It should equalise life for city slickers and country bumpkins. The purpose of self-driven cars should be to maximise use of the existing infrastructure whilst making the last mile more convenient and flexible....
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On the Convenience of Buses Making Self-Driving Cars Obsolete — Mar 7, 2026In the last two days I ran 8.7 and 7.6km. I also walked 7km and 6 or more kilometres. I’m also recovering from a cold. That’s why yesterday I broke a fundamental rule, by catching a bus.... -
On Trips to Geneva by Car, Train and Bicycle — Sep 30, 2025Yesterday I cycled along the lake to get to Geneva. When I got to Geneva I cycled by World Meteorological Organisation before heading up from there towards the Graduate Institute, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the Palace of Nations (Palais des Nations) before heading by the International committee of the Red cross, by the International Labour Organisation and World Health Organisation before passing by the European Broadcasting Union, before finally heading back out of Geneva.... -
The Train from Eaux-Vives to Nyon — May 23, 2025Within 31-34 minutes you can be in Geneva-Eaux-Vives by the RE33 train. Yesterday I tested it on the way back from Silicon Chalet Event 39 about Infrastructure as Code and Security, a combination for success. The talks were interesting and informative. It’s an opportunity to see people from the Geneva tech scene.... -
Commuting to Geneva By Car and Train — May 20, 2025I rarely go to Geneva for two reasons. The first is that there is rarely a compelling reason to go into Geneva, except for work related things. The second reason is that Geneva is expensive to get into.... -
Planning Hikes with Public Transport in Mind — May 14, 2025Yesterday I was surprised that someone had planned an activity without public transport in mind. A few years ago I would not have noticed. For a long time I never considered that people would want to take buses and trains to the start of a hike. Now I do.... -
Walking from one Valley to Another — Mar 29, 2025Sometimes when we go for a hike we walk along a route that makes getting back to the car quick and easy. For tomorrow’s walking getting back to the car would take three trains and more than an hour. For Londoners this is a familiar routing situation, but for people in Switzerland it might not be.... -
Silly Not to Mask — Sep 20, 2024On Sunday, less than a week ago I was on a train. I could hear someone coughing, and coughing. She sat in the seats a set of seats in front of the group of people I was with. I could hear the bronchial cough and I considered masking but didn’t and now I regret it.... -
Linear Bike Rides and Trains — Sep 9, 2024Yesterday I was watching the Tour De Romandie Morges to Morges stage and I was struck by how much of the route I am familar with. It’s not just that I’m familiar with the route that I road with the group, but that I’m familiar with parts of the full tour. Over the years I have ridden between Geneva and Aubonne so many times that I know many of the roads well. I demonstrated this yesterday by recognising most of the roads the women road along.... -
Shopping With an E-Scooter — Jul 18, 2024Over the years I have enjoyed driving to the shops with a petrol driven scooter for daily shops. I liked that it was small, light and convenient. I only got rid of it, after sixteen years of use because of the cost for a service. Usually it was about 500 but I was quoted 500 CHF, so that’s when I decided to be done with it.... -
By Train or By Car — May 30, 2024For many years I could go to work by car so I did, because I had a parking. When I worked for other employers I took the train for a simple reason. Parking near work would cost 36 CHF per day whereas taking the train would cost about 14.50 CHF per day. I stopped using the car to commute for a simple reason, the cost of parking...
