Jerome

Someone with a proposal to save lives and cut congestion, by 20% in the rush hour, that doesn't involve road charging!!!

See here

Maybe these buses will even adopt the "traffic stops in both directions when the lights are flashing" idea as well. Seems to work very well over here.

OllyK

So is that why they need road funding? To pay for it?

fast bloke

It seems sensible. I'll bet it never happens - Otto Man scares me though

OllyK

Sure it "seems" sensible. In this country, it would be viable in the towns and citties, which err have reasonable bus services anyway. In the countryside, it's a different issue. I can see the first pick up loving being picked up at 6am so the bus can get round the other 70 stops and still get the kids to school in time.

Clarebabes

I wish they adopted this in Northampton. I would be able to have an hour for lunch if child could get picked up at a reasonable time and I didn't have to make up the time I'm late in the morning

This seems too sensible - it'll never happen!

Jap2Scrap

I see a yellow scool bus in Leeds most mornings. Usually empty, or near as damn it, I might add...

Dracoro

Well the crucial question is, was it on it way TO the school or FROM it

Jap2Scrap

I'd hazard that it was on it's way. This is around 8am so a bit early for school to be in session isn't it? Not sure to be honest, it's been awhile since I went

fast bloke

Aha - 8AM - just going to pick the kids up. Can you follow it some day and tell us how many kids actually get OFF it

Jap2Scrap

Errrrrrrr... I think following a bus that's picking up kiddies round a city centre might not be such a good idea. I'd be in the dock faster than you can say "Michael Jackson is innocent!"

Wurzel

iTrader: (1)

only 40 deaths and 900 injuries a year! that ain't much is it especially as these will be the slow and thick kids that have no concept of metal boxes on wheels and soft squishy kids do not mix when trying to occupy the same space at the same time! a few less chavies to grow up into full chav status.

also if they do adopt this idea where the bus stops and cars can't pass it then kids will become even more unstreet aware and run across roads because they are assuming that cars will stop automatically when they get of a regular bus etc

Potentially a good idea if it gets 2.1 million cars of the road at rush hour time but as already said not practical in the countryside.

Another marvellous idea by the loonies in power.

fast bloke

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

It has a much better chance of working than most other forms of public transport though - at least all the kids on it actually do need to be in the same place, at the same time, every day.

That's half the battle compared to making a more general system work, which tries to cater for the needs of people all of whom need to get from different places to other different places.

No public transport really works in the countryside - but then again, there's no congestion problem in the countryside either, so that's not really such a big deal.

Dracoro

Why wouldn't it work in the countryside?
I grew up in a village 10 miles from school. We had a coach that drove through the villages and picked up all the kids. There were a number of coaches that did this. This worked (still does afaik) for the 5 years I was there. Hardly anyone drove their kids to school either.

boomer

I found myself agreeing with most of the points in the article, including...

...which pretty much guarantees that it will never happen. Can't have a new scheme in which the Kremlin, er, sorry, the government, don't raise even more money to fund Chav baby factories

mb

Leslie

There always used to be a school bus service in the countryside areas anyway. Seemed to work very well. Run by local coach services. What happened to it?

Les

Iwan

There always has been (as far back as i can remember), and still is, a village bus service in the outlying areas near me. There's usually 1 or 2 pickup points in each village (depending on the size of the village). The parents/kids simply meet the bus at the pickup point (church hall or market square etc.) at an agreed time and all the kids from the same village get on the bus.

To be honest it probably works as well as, or better, than it does in big towns.

OllyK

Well there you go, it depends on "where" I guess. Where I grew up there was no school bus and public transport wasn't running early enough to get me to school on time. My parents and those of friends took it in turns to drive us to school. We used to catch public transport home in the evening.

cookstar

iTrader: (6)

If it works so well in the U.S why would is fail over her.

The one thing i did find shocking, each car produced a tonne of Carbon dioxide EACH per year

"The trust says the school run puts two million extra cars on the roads at peak times each day.

These churn out 2.1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, adding to health problems such as asthma, it adds. "

OllyK

I may be wrong, but I don't think CO2 is a major issue for asthmatics, particulates along with Nitrogen and Sulpher compounds are more of an issue.

OllyK

Indeed
CO2 may even help