On Trips to Geneva by Car, Train and Bicycle

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Yesterday 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.

What makes this ride interesting is that I have worked in all of these buildings, but when I worked in them I almost always took, either the car or the train and a foot scooter. I never cycled to work. Every so often, when it was warmer, I headed there with the petrol scooter.

Every morning, from my apartment I can look at the A1 parking lot, and I can see commuters stuck in traffic, trying to get to work. The journey can take from 20-60 minutes, depending on traffic.

In contrast, by train, from Nyon, the journey is 16 minutes or less. When you get to Geneva, if you don’t have parking available for free, via your employer, then you can easily spend 30-40 CHF per day. In contrast, by train it’s 14 CHF or less per day. If you get a journey card, then it’s 280 CHF or so, per month.

You might think "but if it is so fast by train, why not use the train, and the reason is "because buses from villages to Nyon offer a poor service. They’re every half hour if you’re lucky and the journey from Geneva to Gingins or villages a certain distance from the station takes one and a half hours. The traffic jam filled A1 motorway is still faster, from many villages.

My reason for taking the train, to commute was that I didn’t want to pay for car parking, at 32-36 CHF per day.

Now, for years now, I have been cycling to Geneva for pleasure, in my free time. It has become so habitual now, that when I sign a contract for a job in Geneva, I will commute to Geneva and back, by bike, rather than taking the train, or the car.

The reason for this is two-fold. The first reason is that by cycling to and from work, even in the dark, I have that weekend feeling of freedom every morning and every evening. It means that I have an hour of pleasure in the morning, and again at night.

The second reason is that if I drive to Geneva, it wastes petrol, and then it’s expensive to park, so I think twice about going. That’s why I head to Geneva so infrequently. The second reason is that cycling is almost free, once you have a bike, and in between services. It costs in energy, but that’s it.

And Finally

I stopped going to Geneva for pleasure, years ago. I stopped because I was tired of spending half of my journey time at Geneva traffic lights, rather than driving. If the roads were busy this would have made sense. Even on quiet days these traffic lights add 20 minutes or more to journey times. If you go by train, then it’s 8 or 9 CHF per trip, from Nyon, before you’ve done anything. With an electric car it is almost cheaper to charge the car, and park in Geneva than to take the train. The price is so close that it doesn’t really matter.

Cycling, especially in the warmer months is both cheaper, and much more fun. The only reason I wouldn’t cycle to an event in Geneva is that I fear the bike being stolen and I do not want to have to buy a new road bike yet. I also don’t want to lose access to the road bike, as I love to ride in my free time.