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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Re. School buses.

92 replies

ramblinrose · 11/01/2012 11:50

From April of this year,our County Council (Derbyshire) will remove funding for most of the school bus services.

These buses are not provided free of charge.My son pays 50p per journey to his local catchment area senior school.So £20 per month goes on school bus fares.
My neighbour has 3 dds at this school,so already pays a fair amount to get her children to and from school.

From April they will either have to catch the service bus or,if enough people are willing,carry on with the school bus at a cost of £1 per journey.
Either way,it will cost twice as much to send our children to school as it does now.
It seems incredible that it will cost my neighbour £120 per month on school bus fares.
The school is just over 2.5 miles away.I suppose it could be argued that this is within walking or cycling distance,but it is not the most pleasant of routes with at least two terrible roads to cross during rush hour traffic.
Neither of us drive btw.

So,AIBU please.
I know councils have to save money,and we're all in this together,but it seems a bit extreme to me.

OP posts:
LondonMumsie · 11/01/2012 14:15

Agree re bikes. My kids are dying to cycle but it is just not safe enough.

Sandalwood · 11/01/2012 14:20

I was going to say the same about how it'd probably cost you about the same in petrol anyway.

Moomoomie · 11/01/2012 14:21

Unfortunately this is the price we have to pay by living further away from the school.
My 12 year olds school is nearly 3 miles away, fortunately it is on my dh route to work so he takes her in and then she either walks home( don't like this in the winter as it gets dark so early) or walks the 10 minutes to meet me at primary school.
We are not on a bus route to her school and there is not a school bus from here.
In a way you are lucky to have the bus option.

civilfawlty · 11/01/2012 14:23

Learning to drive, and buying a running car is hardly a solution to a concern about price rises.

bettybat · 11/01/2012 14:23

I grew up in a Northern town similar to Derby....my school was three miles away. When I didn't get the bus - which was £2 a day - I walked or cycled. This was fifteen years ago - the cost OP is talking about is hardly outrageous.

Why would Derby be dangerous to cycle in? Could they get their cycling proficiency? Usually - unless the school is in the middle of the city centre - the school route would be suburban and semi-busy roads, which should be fine. When I had concerns about roundabouts or double-lane roads or whatever, I just got off my bike and walked for a bit. Common sense and all that.

RuleBritannia · 11/01/2012 14:23

Doesn't the bus service have a season ticket system? Weekly, monthly?

DoesNotGiveAFig · 11/01/2012 14:25

I pay about £70 per month to run my car. Compared to £120 for the OP's neighbour's situation it's cheaper. I could still afford to put £20 away in a 'repairs' kitty.

I agree it is very expensive to learn, and I'd imagine to start an insurance policy now.

OlympicEater · 11/01/2012 14:28

Similar here (Northants) two villages side by side in catchment for school on edge of town. The further village is over the 3 mile mark and has a bus laid on that goes through the nearer village but the nearer village is under 2.7 miles away so they have to pay.

titchy · 11/01/2012 14:35

This is why I am glad my nearest school - that dcs attend - is 3.1 miles away! Saves me £60 a month!

No bus provided for those doing after school clubs though ....

Sandalwood · 11/01/2012 14:37

re the cost of running a car DNGAF, I was thinking more about the OP's travel costs rather than the neighbour.
It all comes down to the choices we make about schooling/how many children to have etc etc. Once you have so many children you need a big car that costs more to run, where you live determines how far you are from work/school/shops etc.

Sandalwood · 11/01/2012 14:45

For £3, and then maybe if you go in on it too for a £1 - your neighbour might decide to get a taxi.

signet · 11/01/2012 14:49

Have to say that I didn't even think of Secondary school when we moved into our current house 6 years ago. Children are nearly of that age but the thought of the cost of getting them to secondary school hadn't even crossed my mind. There is no way I could afford the £4 or so each day some people are saying they have to pay to get their child to school for each of my 3 children.

Its purely by chance that our local secondary is pretty much in our back garden but how on earth do people cope otherwise? The older my children get the more I realise I have absolutely no idea about.

natation · 11/01/2012 14:55

Is there not a season pass available which is cheaper than single tickets?

Sorry but I am also going to say I used to go to school a little under 3 miles from home and walked or cycled nearly every day - up quite a steep hill and back down in the afternoon. I was then forceably moved in the last year of school to another school just over 3 miles away, Gateshead LEA refused us free transport despite them making the decision to move all upper 6 students to this new school at a couple of weeks notice, again I walked or cycled to this new school, down into the valley and back up another hill twice a day.

I have sympathy for the OP, a sudden increase is not nice, but it's not too far to walk or cycle.

Original poster
ramblinrose · 11/01/2012 15:13

Thanks again for all the comments.
I am reading them with interest.

Some people are saying that I am complaining about £1 per day, I'm not.
I'm just a little concerned that it will be going up to £2 per day.
I think a lot of people are finding things a bit tight at the moment,but I'm sure we'll cope.
My son is not afraid of walking,but I do think if the weathers crap 2.5 miles can seem a long way.

When we moved to this house 20 years ago,I admit the last thing on my mind was senior schools.But the reality is that there are far fewer senior schools than primary ones,so I would imagine most children have to travel some distance.

I do find it interesting reading all the different opinions,even though not many are actually on my side Smile

OP posts:
GrendelsMum · 11/01/2012 15:45

Is your DS a sensible lad? 2.5 miles isn't a long way on a bike, and if he doesn't have to transport too much, will wear appropriate clothing and will treat any busy roads in a sensible way, that might be a good option for at least a few days in the week. You could send him on a cycle safety course, for example, and work out a quiet route with him.

At my old school many years ago, it was the general rule that any money you saved on bus fares through your own physical exertion (i.e. cycling or walking) was yours to keep - could you agree this with your son? He gets to keep £1 for every day cycled (and you keep £1 for cost of bike, lights, helmet, weatherproof clothing, etc). If you catch him not cycling safely, he gets banned from cycling and loses the £1.

LadySybilDeChocolate · 11/01/2012 15:49

Hi ramblin. Smile

It's cheaper to buy a weekly/monthly ticket for the bus so I'd look into this. It is a PITA though, if it's lost then it's expensive to replace.

canyou · 11/01/2012 16:07

I can see that for some families the increase may cause problems, Her neighbour with three children will have to spend my weeks grocery shop on her DC school bus fare,

ComposHat · 11/01/2012 16:35

I too am annoyed by the posters who just bellow 'learn to drive' at anyone who has a public transport related dilemma. It is simply out of many people's price bracket to learn (average 50 lessons @ 20 odd quid a pop) not to mention the cost of buying, insuring, taxing and servicing a car.

I like Grendel's idea.

A variant of this idea, might be to give him a sum that allows occasional, rather than daily bus use: Say £6 quid a week. So if it is bucketing it down with rain or he has a load of PE kit to carry, he can make a decision to take the bus, but it isn't the norm. If he's used up his bus allowance by Wednesday, tough luck, he gets wet or a sore shoulder from carrying his PE Kit.

Not only will he learn decision making and financial planning skills and will hopefully get fitter too.

Whatever is left from the £6 a week he gets to keep, so he is rewarded for walking and you are only a £1 a week worse off than now.

2.5 miles shouldn't take more than 45 minutes to walk and he should be okay crossing roads if he's a sensible. Do any of his mates live nearby? I used to enjoy knocking on and walking to school with them, it would also give safety in numbers.

Original poster
ramblinrose · 11/01/2012 17:13

ladysybil unfortunately the bus company has stopped issuing mega rider tickets for kids so they have to buy an adult one.Actually it is a good idea though.They cost £9 per week,but he would be able to use it at the weekend too.Thank you for that suggestion Smile

ComposHat I think you're suggestion is very good too,especially once the spring comes.thank you Smile

OP posts:
Original poster
ramblinrose · 11/01/2012 17:15

And canyou it's a massive ammount of money isn't it !

OP posts:
Ingles2 · 11/01/2012 17:21

I agree with composHat I think ....
In our case ds2 gets free school transport as we live 5 miles from the closest secondary school. Ds1 goes to a selective school 12 miles away and for that it's part paid by a U18's freedom bus pass (costs 100 quid a year) and part paid termly to bus company (70 a term)
so not cheap, but definitely cheaper than driving.

cory · 11/01/2012 17:31

From your OP is seems as if there is a service bus that the children could catch- so what is the problem with this?

TotemPole · 11/01/2012 17:33

It's a big increase, 100%!

ramblinrose, there's a discount card for school aged children, is it £1 with the discount?

IUseTooMuchKitchenRoll · 11/01/2012 17:42

I think a better way to look at it would be that you are lucky it has been subsidised for so long.

It is difficult when prices go up for essential things, but I think Compos has a good idea. It would be even better if you could get the neighbour to agree to do the same thing with her dc because then they could do it together.

It's not the worst thing that the council could cut, it's not their responsibility to get children to school and they have to prioritise.

GrendelsMum · 11/01/2012 17:44

Ooh, yes - I think that ComposHat has the right idea.