i think we might be in for a shock!!!
currently we live seven minutes drive from the CBD, and hubby has a twelve minute cycle to his office...
We aren't expecting to find that if hubby gets the job in Geneva...
two questions:
1. what is a typical commute (i know, it is a question which is similar to "how long is a piece of string", but in NZ commuting for 10-40 minutes is normal, longer than that and it is lifestyle choice)...
2. currently hubby cycles to work, is there any chance of that happening in Geneva, or would he be crazy to do so...???
thanks folks...
Of course he can cycle to work, distance and time depends on where the work is and where you live.
Definitely possible and even encouraged within Geneva to get on the bike to work.
Lots of people bike in Geneva, especially when the weather is nice. Just watch out for cars with French plates
Public transport is pretty decent, in that it will get you everywhere. I commute daily to and with-in Geneva (about 2 hours after all is said and done) and find it to be a much easier commute than when I lived in DC (which was a 1 hour commute in horrible traffic).
Most people I speak to here don't have more than a 30 minute commute.
I think you said in another post your hubby is likely to be working for the UN in the Paquis .. that pretty effectively narrows it down to the Palais Wilson ( HCHR ) which is a beautiful buiding (outside ) and is desperately short of parking in an area short of parking.
yes bike commuting is done and recommended down there.
and yes , do try to stay "this" side of the river for that commute.
Even if you live outside town, there are plenty of villages within easy cycle commuting distance - I'm 11km from work, in a small village out towards Annemasse, and can cycle in to work in around 25mins (which is considerably faster than taking bus + tram).
currently getting an idea of what housing is avaliable - or not avaiable - using the homegate.ch website... . I am worried that we would never find anywhere to live :-(
I love that you can use google maps to work out the location - and it offers distance/time, by car, public transport or foot...
Is there a formula so I can convert that to cycle time??? (hubby is prepared to commute for 45 minutes - which is long for this kiwi - but short for many who arrive from larger international cities)
Assuming you are planning on staying on the north side of the lake (which is sensible given work location) the best site to use is
www.sbb.ch which will give train times if you are looking at the villages and towns out towards Lausanne.
For public transport within Canton Geneva, look at www.tpg.ch which covers buses and trams.
A set formula for cycling probably wouldn't be much use as it will depend on how fast your other half cycles, what bike he is using and whether he wants to/is able to shower at the office. I cycle pretty fast and take under 25mins for an 11km commute into the centre currently as it is not too warm, but as I have no shower facilities I need to slow down a bit in full summer to avoid sweating...
Well, assuming cars drive @ 60 KM/Hour inside the city, average biking would be around 30 KM/Hour, so i assume it's double time more or less.
30km/h on a bike is a decent ride on a racing bike with no traffic lights etc to slow you down. Depending how much up and down, how much in town vs out of town, and how much rolling resistance you have (ie thin racing back tyres or fat mountain bike knobblies or something in between) somewhere between 12 and 20km/h is probably more realistic for commuting.
As an aside, I doubt average car speed in the city is much more than that either...
I find cycling in Geneva extremely dangerous. Depending on where you live, you may find or not find bike lanes. I only bike on Sunday mornings when the streets are empty.. and yes, french drivers are dangerous. Particularly watch out for "74" and "39" number plates, they live sometimes far up the mountains and overtake like mad. Geneva drivers are not much better though. Swiss-germans are the best but you hardly find them driving in GVA
Agreed some drivers are not the best (plenty on GE plates too) but it's not that bad - I cycled to work nearly every day and recreationally around Geneva for 3 years and only had one minor scrape with a car. Riding with lights and high vis seems to be beyond most people but maybe that kept me out of trouble.
Pedestrians are a nightmare but if you assume they will jump out in front of you then you should be about right (as goes for most of the world).
The main problem I had was the tram tracks - lost count if the number of times I dropped a wheel in and had to bail.
Quite agree with snooky76 - if you are used to cycling in any town or city then Geneva is no different, and certainly not particularly dangerous.
Particularly for commuting you will quickly learn the spots to pay particular attention on your route. As always, it is worth getting some decent lights for the times of year when it is getting darker.