Endless variations and never stuck

I've just altered my route to work, and I'm coming to terms with quite how consistently busy the Victoria Line is when I get on at Victoria. This morning was particularly packed. By the time I arrived on the platform, "minor delays" had turned into "severe delays", threatening to make me late for my first meeting of the day. By pure coincidence, one of the people I was meeting with appeared behind me on the platform. We escaped from the station - not as easy as it seems first thing in the morning when the one way system is in operation - and caught a bus instead. We had some of the meeting on the back seat of the bus.

Despite the occasional hassle like this morning, I'm eternally astonished at the variety of routes that are possible between two points in London. I travel from Balham to Victoria on the train, then get the tube to Oxford Circus. I needn't though. I could get the Northern Line and change at Stockwell. I could get a bus from Victoria instead of the tube. I could even, though I'm not sure why I would, get a bus to Elephant & Castle and walk from there. It's a 50 minute walk, but crossing the Thames first thing is lovely and the walk is just the right side of far too long. In short, there are countless possibilities, and endless variations on a theme.

For much as people complain about the public transport in London - delays, overcrowding and other random frustrations - I think the endless variations are what make it so good. It's very difficult to get completely and permanently stuck anywhere. There's always another way. For all the perceived freedom of car drivers travelling under their own steam, their options are severely limited even compared to someone with just a bus pass. Once they've hit a traffic jam, broken down or had an accident, they're stuck. With parking restrictions, they can't even get out and walk.

Nor can they blog about it on their mobiles on the way home.