mattsccm wrote:Whilst I most certainly agree with the above sentiments I doubt their practicality. To start with, in this nanny state we live in it wouldn't just be a case of slapping a strip of gravel alongside the road. There would have to be width allowances and a set of traffic lights in the form of a pedestrian crossing. At the designated parking point there would need to be car parks. You can't just move the issue to a hedged single track lane a mile along the road.
If all this worked there would still be parents parking on the double yellow lines outside the school or in the bus stop or in farm entrances. Anything rather than get their and the kids bikes out the car, ride the bike a mile, drop the kids of, drop bags, hats and all the other junk etc. Reverse this at 3pm.
No way.
Any in one respect even I would object. All that infrastructure for 30 kids. Can I have pot holes filled with the money please?
The principle is sound and in an urban situation viable. In the countryside its less so as kids are in cars anyway. Why would most parents think kindly of a situation that added an hour to either end of their school run? Sad really.
I accept that it's not practical everywhere. Places where it isn't practical should provide public transport and/or school busses, but again, that's something from a fanstasy world
As for filling potholes, there is no reason that we can't have both potholes filled, and safe routes to school except that the government has elected to prioritise major road schemes, which are now running over budget, while spending of ring-fenced money for cycling lags behind budget, and Highways England are in danger of missing road safety targets.
https://www.highwaysmagazine.co.uk/High ... finds/4249
thirdcrank wrote:When I was at primary school, all my grandparents lived closer to the school than I did, and I lived close enough to walk there alone from age four. And, of course, we had no car - just like everyone else.
With both parents often working, we now have more childcare provided by grandparents etc than ever before, but families are often more widespread. Then, there's parental choice of schools, which can mean longer trips to school.
So, in addition to the people who habitually drive everywhere, society has changed so that more children travel further to school as the norm.
And let's not forget the consolidations (or amalgamations, as they are often called) of schools, that mean more children per school. While some of the reasons for closing old schools are valid, many more are penny pinching, where the cost of time and transport are transferred to families that can ill afford it, while the local authority often sees it an answer to budgetary issues, and allays parents' concerns by using some, or all of the funds to make needed improvements in other schools.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... chool-land