How to broach this school run traffic problem

[JenniferBooth]

i live opposite an infant/junior school. For the last 29 years. The traffic is a nightmare. Has been steadily getting worse over the last five years particularly the last two. Todays normally ten min bus journey at 3.30pm took TWENTY FIVE minutes. The bus driver could see that the three cars in front of him had ONE parent and ONE child in it. Ludicrous. Been living here 29 years and it never used to be like this. Im going to ring the Head and ask him if he can ask the parents to carpool or something. But ive already been told this is a stupid idea so what do i do.

There’s never any decent parking around schools for whatever reason. Guess it’s just the fact we live in a tiny tightly packed country so often no room to create car parks for parents. This has always been an issue, even when I was a child it always was. Some parents don’t need to drive there but are lazy fuckers so still do, that’s an issue. Schools have been encouraging walking/cycling to school for years but I don’t think many listen.

I physically cannot cycle. So there's that

My parents lived near a school. They worked around it and knew never to leave the house at certain times.

It worked for them!

You can get sweaty walking if you march along at top speed, or you can walk at a gentle pace and not get sweaty at all. Same with cycling, you don't have to go as hard as you physically can. It is possible to cycle gently and not get out of breath. And the more you do it the stronger and fitter you get. Very quickly you can up the speed you can maintain at an easy level of exertion. I cycle almost everywhere and I don't arrive at destinations needing a shower.

But if, as in my example above, I'm already 15 minutes late due to cycling full speed been slower then driving, can I really afford go at a gentle pace, and arrive 20/25 minutes late. 2 journeys a day, 5 times a week.

No, not everyone can cycle and those that can probably can't always cycle. But most people can cycle more than they do and drive less and a lot of people dismiss it without even giving it an honest try. People build it up in their heads as being far more difficult, slow, strenuous, dangerous and inconvenient than it is. You save quite a lot of time just by never having to fuck around with parking.

The bus driver would be shocked I sometimes see people on their own in a car!! Not even with a child too. Parents should walk the child to school, then walk home then get their car and drive to work and arrive late. 😉

Google also assumes you cycle about 10 mph if I recall correctly, which is an extremely gentle pace already. No way is it based on 'full speed' for a non-disabled adult unless it's blowing a gale in the opposite direction. You can almost certainly beat the Google time estimates quite easily.

You live that close to the school what on earth do you think are to do arrive by carrier pigeon?

@fairyfluf

And lots of people cannot drive or afford a car.

We used to meet in a pub car park and walk in.

There is a pub with a car park a two min walk away I can see the pub as well as the school from my bedroom window. But they dont use the pub car park though they may not be allowed to.

And a folding/foldable bicycle? They don't take much space folded up in your apartment and are light enough to carry down the stairs snd unfold on the street. The wheels are smaller so you'll be peddling more but maybe that's preferable to a long frustrating bus journey.

The hall in the flat is too narrow You can just about walk in without your shoulders touching the wall either side. The only ones with wider hallways and an alcove beside the front door (which would be perfect for a bike) are the two bedroom flats and you dont get allocated these unless you have at least one child. These flats were built in 1977 before both parents had to work. We do have a small cupboard in the hallway but that houses DHs wheelchair and other mobility aids.

As long as the parents aren’t parking or driving illegally, I’m not sure there’s much you can do.

People can be very selfish especially around the “safety” of their children. They’ll put other people’s safety in jeopardy eg air pollution from their cars.

Here in the US (or at least in Los Angeles), all our elementary schools have what we call a "kiss and drop." Cars line up at a designated school gate and the Parents volunteer to help the children out of the cars and escort them into the gate. No one has to park, and the line of cars moves quickly and SAFELY past the school and the whole thing takes 20 minutes to get hundreds of children into the school. Same thing in the afternoon when they get out (takes a little longer, I think). When I lived in London, we lived opposite a private Japanese school and they had the same system. At the time, I tried to suggest to the local primary in London where my ds attended for nursery to do this and they just kept saying "it will never work because that's a private school." At that point I didn't realize that this wasn't just a Japanese private school's idea and that it was standard in the US at all the state schools (and private).

This is exactly what we don't want.

@madamreign Is that because it works, increases safety and reduces traffic jams, and makes it possible for working parents to get their kids to school or because you don't like things that are unfamiliar or foreign?

Where I am, there's a bus every few minutes, 3 different ones. Every ten mins is serious off peak like 3am.

Bit of a contradiction to congestion zones and ulez etc and 15min cities that, isnt it?

They need to make their fucking mind up.

People can be very selfish especially around the “safety” of their children. They’ll put other people’s safety in jeopardy eg air pollution from their cars

It’s not so much that these days, but rather kids are dropped off/picked up on way to/from school. People now wfh and do school run and need to be back quick smart, or one parent drops on way to office and the other parent having started earlier picks up on way back from office. Covid has meant more flexible working arrangements Post-Covid for many. This does however mean that it’s not possible for most to walk kids to/from school as doesn’t fit with work, can’t carpool as doesn’t fit with work etc. It won’t change now, so just a case of accepting it.

Emission zones around schools is exactly what we need 👏💡

The Caretaker / Maintenance guy at my daughters primary school used to put cones out during the school run and would stand there in his hi-vis blowing his whistle if anyone so much as tapped their brakes on the zigzag bit.

Completely power crazed but it worked a treat x

Your post proves my point about the selfishness of parents @HoppingPavlova

We don’t have “just accept” such unnecessary and polluting car journeys which should be done on foot or by public transport.

I live between 2 primary schools, I’m on one road and next rd each way has a primary school.

😳 but the motorist are literally driving along the pavements 🙈 how pedestrians haven’t been injured is a miracle. Driving through the congestion isn’t easy and I just try to avoid school times - not always possible with different work.

the schools have tried offering alternative parking ( pub carparks, church carparks) bout these stay empty as it’s a 2 minute walk

there is also a bicycle bus someone set up 3 days a week, this regularly takes 12/15 cars off the rds so less congestion