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Commuter
Senior Member
United Kingdom
166 Posts |
 Posted - 24 Mar 2011 : 13:17:16
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quote:
Originally posted by 240felicia
wouldn't it be great if it was like the united states where they have school buses collecting kids from near their homes... if we had buses running all the bramley green children to and from school every day i reckon it would considerably ease congestion and make school runs a breeze for loads of families... doubt that will ever happen though...
Bus??? It can't be much more than a mile from BG to St M's school. I walk that distance and more when out for a pleasant stroll. Are the children of Angmering really no longer capable of walking this distance twice a day? Perhaps the US would benefit from cutting down its school bus provision: http://www.betterhealthusa.com/public/227.cfm |
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Karl@KCM
Senior Member
United Kingdom
169 Posts |
Posted - 24 Mar 2011 : 13:31:08
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Would the parents of said children fund the bus?, I mean they are spending fuel money now  |
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240felicia
Senior Member
172 Posts |
Posted - 24 Mar 2011 : 16:08:58
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hopefully my example below will help you see how a bus would help...
1 bus driving 2 x 1.5 mile journeys per day (plus to & from depot)
compared to
30+ cars driving 4 x 1.5 mile journeys per day (to school and back twice)
that's 3 bus miles instead of 180 car miles per day
15 bus miles : 900 car miles per week
does that clarify how a bus would make an amazing difference, it would reduce school run traffic, make famillies lives much simpler at school run times and would probably improve the air quality in Angmering at certain times of day too
(30+ cars is a conservative estimate, and that's just BG, other areas of the school catchment could benefit from a bus service)
personally i would not make use of a walking bus service, the practicalities of it are too complex, plus if it was a large group of very young children, there would need to be a lot of people walking with the children for their safety, which kind of defeats the object of the whole exercise
but i would certainly be happy to pay for an actual bus service as it would only need a driver and chaperones
but it's never going to happen because people come along and say walking would be better because we're all supposed to be walking to school apparently to save the planet, but the thing is, when you are in a busy family with very little time to spare, and have to choose between walking and car, car almost always wins, whereas if there was a daily bus as part of your routine, hardly anyone would use their car to get the kids to school, which would be fantastic
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240felicia
Senior Member
172 Posts |
Posted - 24 Mar 2011 : 16:18:50
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quote:
Perhaps the US would benefit from cutting down its school bus provision: http://www.betterhealthusa.com/public/227.cfm
hardly relevant, the cities and roads in the us are all designed around driving... have you ever tried walking from one suburb of a city to another area when everyone else is driving? if you did, you'd find that in lots of places there isn't even a pavement to walk on and roads are so big the only safe way to cross them is in a motor vehicle. plus everything is so far apart it would be too far to walk... |
Edited by - 240felicia on 24 Mar 2011 16:19:59 |
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Commuter
Senior Member
United Kingdom
166 Posts |
Posted - 25 Mar 2011 : 07:53:33
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quote:
Originally posted by 240felicia
people come along and say walking would be better because we're all supposed to be walking to school apparently to save the planet, but the thing is, when you are in a busy family with very little time to spare, and have to choose between walking and car, car almost always wins, whereas if there was a daily bus as part of your routine, hardly anyone would use their car to get the kids to school, which would be fantastic
Whilst the planet may benefit from a few less car journeys, I'd be more worried about the more immediate impact on the children involved. Research suggests that modern parenting may result in a generation who actaully have a lower life expectancy, worse health outlook etc than their grandparents because of reduced exercise etc!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mvr0 |
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angmeringpaul
Senior Member
United Kingdom
234 Posts |
Posted - 25 Mar 2011 : 09:58:00
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I checked into this when my children first started primary school a few years back.
Whilst its true that there is no minimum age for a child to walk to school if a walking bus is established it must conform to WSCC policy regarding ratios (1 adult to 4 children under 7) CRB checks, risk assessments etc etc etc.
Felicia is right in thinking that the American system of school buses puts us to shame but generally the distances to schools are greater there. The school bus that arrives at Bramley Green with Angmering School Children at around 8:30 would have been ideal to then collect the primary school children to go up Arundel road. Unfortunately the bus has to go straight off to do a school run further afield. |
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The Lost Plot
Senior Member
124 Posts |
Posted - 15 Apr 2011 : 08:44:17
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| My Son starts at St Margarets in September and the only thing that is bothering me about this is the wretched parking issue. I know I am not going to be able to walk him there every day and loathe the thought of this regular parking challenge, I certainly do not have time to turn up early either. Totally agree about the US School bus. If someone has the relevant license and time to drive it, I'll buy the bus and do what the private schools do - offer the bus service to parents for a fee. I don't think we'd have a problem filling it every day! |
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240felicia
Senior Member
172 Posts |
Posted - 15 Apr 2011 : 13:48:57
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wouldn't worry, it's not a challenge, it's just a matter of timing and consideration for others...
unfortunately there are a few muppets who park by the bank alongside the school carpark and block the road sometimes (a black focus or blue scenic, most often), so try not to do that, and if you want to get a space close by the school then you do need to arrive early in the afternoon, but in the morning, if you aim to arrive just after the first bell, there are usually plenty of spaces from people leaving after dropping off their children, and you can still be in in time for second bell
there's several residential roads off arundel road which people also park in (personally i don't as i think it's a bit of a liberty) but if all else fails there are always spaces just past the traffic pinch point to the north of the school, between the left junction and the national speed limit sign.
it really isn't a big deal, the only thing that i find a bit annoying is just that sometimes some people do park rather selfishly...
what gets me most is the parents who drop off their children by the side gate at school car park exit in front of the year one classrooms and block the rest of us in when we're still trying to get parked, as they seem to think it's ok for them as long as their children are on time then to heck with the rest of us who end up late because of them...
oh dear, i'm ranting....... sorry  |
Edited by - 240felicia on 15 Apr 2011 13:52:01 |
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The Lost Plot
Senior Member
124 Posts |
Posted - 15 Apr 2011 : 16:57:58
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| Oh thanks everso for that felicia, it's the kind of thing I actually worry about as am rarely ontime anywhere and especially being ontime for school was never my thing, but need to try for little one! Have been scheming up all sorts of plans. I know there is a carpark at the school, is that just for staff then? I don't mind parking a way off and walking a bit to avoid all the argy-bargy, or walking/cycling when weather & time allows. I guess there will always be folks who HAVE to be at the front of everything, even if everyone thinks they're mindless twits, and I suppose that is the pay-off :-) |
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The Lost Plot
Senior Member
124 Posts |
Posted - 15 Apr 2011 : 17:01:09
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| PS re: 1st/2nd bell - I don't think I EVER heard the bell atall when I was at school, but I think they had one because it went off at home time too and am sure I heard THAT! |
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240felicia
Senior Member
172 Posts |
Posted - 15 Apr 2011 : 18:02:16
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there's a small first come first served car park... the staff car park is to the east of that, and is coned off... there's also several pull in spaces alongside the playgroup, which are stictly for dropping off only in the morning, but you can park in them in the afternoon... if you want to get a spacee that close to school, you have to be pretty early, hence people sat reading etc in their cars long before the end of schoolthat was the original topic of this thread...
the bell is is rung by hand in the playground at 8:35 when doors (should) open and the second one is at 8:45, by which time if you're arriving after that, it's late marks on the register!!!
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Karl@KCM
Senior Member
United Kingdom
169 Posts |
Posted - 15 Apr 2011 : 19:09:09
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| make sure your about 50 minutes early every afternoon if you want one of the prime places otside my house |
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240felicia
Senior Member
172 Posts |
Posted - 15 Apr 2011 : 21:55:16
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| maybe you could make a little extra income by renting out spaces on your driveway |
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The Lost Plot
Senior Member
124 Posts |
Posted - 15 Apr 2011 : 22:11:27
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| Ha ha ha .... me ... 50 mins early - forget it! Will have to whirr up the helicopter and airlift him in/out to avoid late marks! I really would have thought someone would have done something about calming the situation by now. Ho hum. Now there's a thought, I'd rent a spot from you Karl, would you like to be my new best friend? I'd pay a good rate to avoid all this lark. |
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The Lost Plot
Senior Member
124 Posts |
Posted - 15 Apr 2011 : 22:19:07
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| BTW Angmering Paul, do you know who runs the Angmering School bus service? I may do a little research on your suggestion. |
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Karl@KCM
Senior Member
United Kingdom
169 Posts |
Posted - 16 Apr 2011 : 21:42:22
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| No point in renting a spot on my drive, you cant get back out on to the road till 20 minutes after school anyway, what with all the traffic |
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angmeringpaul
Senior Member
United Kingdom
234 Posts |
Posted - 16 Apr 2011 : 22:04:51
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Hi Lost Plot. When I tried to get them to continue up to Arundel Road I spoke with Compass travel and Overland Buses.
If enough parents contact/hassel them then maybe they could reroute another bus to do that route. There is an ideal drop off point/bus stop at the south part of Bramley Green where the Angmering school bus drops off. Just one bus with 50+ children on would make a big difference. |
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