Peckham bus run

Back in the day when Clarkson, May and Hammond were still an item on BBC, they did city challenges where the three used different modes of transport to go from point A to point B. The modes of transport were usually a car, public transport and if the city had a river, a boat. The challenges were also accompanied by maps with moving GPS trackers to show how they were progressing. It was exciting because you always knew that the underdog, such as public transport had a fighting chance to win.

However they never tried walking as an option. So here’s my Top Gear inspired bus vs walking challenge.

Let me start by giving a little background. My morning commute to work entails taking the 381 to Peckham Bus Station, then taking the 345 from Peckham Bus Station to work. I have been doing this commute for the past year, five days a week, and I have been through every possible scenario. The optimum scenario, the unremarkable, not stressful one, is when the 381 arrives within 5 minutes of waiting at the stop near home, followed by 345 arriving within 5 minutes at Peckham Bus Station. Most scenarios vary by 1-2minutes waiting time at my home stop and at Peckham respectively. But sometimes I get an outlier. Those scenarios which really get my heart racing and my anxiety hormones pumping like crazy. The craziest scenarios involve the bus leaving the stop just as you are about 100 yards away from it. This has happened to me on numerous occasions from my home stop and at Peckham. However, there is one unique scenario where I can really make those anxiety hormones count for something. I can still catch the 345 from Peckham even after I see it leave the station while stepping off the 381.

But how is that possible? Most city challenges are designed in such a way that every mode of transport has a fair chance at reaching the goal first. And, this is how it applies to this scenario at Peckham Bus Station.

When the bus leaves the Peckham Bus station, it goes round the whole Peckham shopping centre complex to arrive at its next stop, Hanover Park. The interesting thing about this is, there is a walking shortcut from the Bus station to the Hanover Park stop which goes through the shopping complex. However, the bus is able to go at great speeds compared to a human, especially an unfit one such as me.

On one of these occasions, a kind gentleman suggested that I run through the shopping complex and out the other side to catch the bus, but as expected I didn’t and decided to wait for the next bus instead.

How it unfolded

But I felt like I needed a change. So the next time I found the bus waiting to exit the bus station complex, I decided to go for it. I started walking, picking up my pace slowly as I entered the car park. I reached in front of Morrison’s and when I was about to enter the shopping complex, I saw the bus speeding down Hanover Park (the road) at great speed. Fight or flight response kicked in and I broke into a sprint. I ran through the shopping complex and came out the other side, to see the bus had just arrived at the bus stop.

I made a final sprint, and jumped onto it.

So did I win? The bus reached first, but its doors were open long enough for me to jump in. So I think I would consider that a victory.

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