Bicycle barometer: bike or bunk the commute

At this time of the year, having a choice of transport can be the enemy of the cycle commuter; it’s understandable that the sight of frost or freezing fog on a dull winter’s morning can have even the enthusiastic cyclist reaching for the car keys or Oyster card, but it doesn't make the decision to leave the bike at home an easy one to make. The bicycle barometer offers to make the choice on your behalf.

The bicycle barometer uses an internet connection to establish weather conditions on your route, the status of the tube lines you use to get to work, and whether your local station is open or shut.

It then digests all that data down into a single value and displays it on a dial with a bike sign at one end and a tube sign at the other. For example, if it is raining a bit the dial will move a bit towards the tube sign, but if the tube is suffering delays, it will move a bit back in the other direction.
Snow is more important than a bit of drizzle; the tube station being shut trumps everything.

The instructions for building one are available here

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