CliffEdge wrote:When I am subjected to the torture that is the M25 it is obvious to me that most of the cars on there are making pointless journeys.
Just one aspect of the fact that most jobs nowadays are pointless.
You mean everyone except yours, I presume?
I use it to get me from A to B in the shortest possible time. I have used the alternatives at times, but for the usual journey it is about 105 minutes via the M25 and about twice that not using the motorway. Public transport takes about three times that, possibly more if I include walking and waiting time. I haven't tried it since Reading Station was changed, but what used to be a cross platform change now involves a longer trek and a quick connection is no longer possible.
30 years ago I used to drive home from the West Midlands after work on Thursdays. The obvious route was via M5, M40, M25 and M23. Such was the traffic that I found it quicker to use the A449 to pick up the M5 near Worcester, over the Cotswold to Swindon, M4 to Chieveley, A38 to north of Winchester, country lanes to the A272 east of Winchester and then from Petworth to Steyning and on home. No difference in time, sometimes quicker, and better opportunities for a bite on the way.
TJH