To think the 3 mile rule for school transport is unfair and not fit for the current time?

[WellThatsMeScrewed]

My eldest does not get transport to her secondary school because we live 2.89 miles away from her secondary school. Supposedly she can walk this.

It would involve crossing 3 lots of dual carriageways, walking along a unlit busy road.

It’s just not fair.

The 3 mile rule is from some archaic time where there was hardly any traffic.

This is good advice.

It's the safety of the route you should be focusing on in any discussions with the council. The council will need to asses the route and consider whether or not it is safe.

In an idea world councils would fund buses for all who wanted them, but funding is insufficient and has been for as long as I have worked in local govt (20 odd years now!) In times where funding is v tight, they provide the minimum, which in this case is determined nationally.

*ideal world

There are children at my kids Primary school that live a mile away... which isn't far. But that mile is across an airfield... which obviously isn't safe to walk! They are driven by their parents.

At our last house, we were refused transport as I opted for the school 2.2 miles away over the one 2.1 miles away.... which was twice the distance by road as you couldn't drive across the Army firing range. Indeed you had to drive past the further away school to get to it.

School transport is bonkers. They want less people to drive, but do t provide the options to do so.

There's nothing inherently unsafe about a dual carriageway given that all a dual carriage way is is a two way road with some sort of barrier (soil planted with wildflowers would count) in the middle. Many have traffic lights and I'd like to hope that by the time they get to secondary school age most NT kids could cross a road at traffic lights safely.

"Any why should there be a cut off? Tell me why should someone on the SAME street get a free bus and us not? Don’t tell me that is fair?"
Because the LA and the Govt do not have enough money to provide free transport for every child in every school sadly

according to the guidance, crossing roads depends on traffic flow and how often there are gaps of sufficient length to cross at normal walking pace, a dual carriageway is not automatically considered unsafe, neither is unlit automatically unsafe but they maybe so in OP's case she needs to appeal on grounda of safety not distance, 3 miles is about a 45 minute walk for a healthy teenager

Stop being angry and just do the appeal. If you lose the appeal, then you have something to complain about. Now you're just being miserable for miserys sake.

I'm in south of England and all the secondaries around here finish around 3-3.15 which is some time before it gets dark, even in midwinter. If the op's school finishes late (or is in the north of Britain), this is relevant as to how dark it would be.

Anyway, OP, have you considered cycling? Is there a longer but safer route that your child could cycle?

OP isn't saying there's no alternative. She's saying the LA consider the distance is walkable and therefore won't pay for the bus.

Seems tough for an 11 yr old to walk almost 6 miles a day.

If someone in the same street is able to get a bus, does this mean it's a faith school and thev other kid is the right faith? Is there a nearer school?

@User12398712 and if the walk home is an hour it'll get dark before she gets there, even finishing at 3.

It'll also be dark when she leaves in the morning.

Crossing a dual carriageway isn't necessarily dangerous. DS had to cross one to get to primary school. Most I believe have pedestrian crossings somewhere. If that's not the case for OP, then they need to raise it and appeal the decision.

There are safe crossings on many dual carriageways so as long as there are some on your dds route it’s fine.

Its a parents responsibility to get their children to school, not the councils.

Is it your local school? We have parents in the next village complaining they don't get a bus to the school most rural children go to, but that's because the village has a senior school within safe walking distance, it's just not as good as the other school.

It's not just the distance. You can appeal in the grounds that it's "not a safe walking route" especially in winter in the dark.

But also, I think the limit should be 1 mile for primary and 2 miles for secondary. 2 miles each way is not kind for a 4 year old, especially after a full day at school. And it's also not fair that kids who split their time between two parents are only entitled to transport from one of those addresses - I've never understood that at all.

It might just mean they’re 0.12 miles further along and therefore over 3 miles

But as the rule is 3 miles on a safe walking route, then it is worth talking to the council to get the decision changed. It is also possible that is what the other family has done

I think even if school finished at 15.30 every day,in the winter it may be dark by the time they reached home. Especially as they may dawdle, stop to talk to friends who go in another direction.etc. Of course you can tell them to go straight home quickly at that time of year, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they will.

So there is a bus and you are just complaining about having to pay for it?

Actually it's 3 miles for primary too once they get to juniors, which I agree is rather outdated.

I live an hour north of Glasgow on the shortest day 21st december
sunrise is at 8.49 and sunset is at 15.44 ( daylight would be 8.04-16.29) in the England it is light for at least 30-45 minutes before sunrise and after sunset, this time increases as you go north to between 45- 1 hour 15 minutes in Scotland, hence the law about needing headlights 30 minutes after sunset

in London on 21st december sunrise is 8.03 and sunset 15.53 so daylight is from 7.33-16.23
so depending on how late school finishes would indicate on how many days it is actuallyy legally considered dark on arrival at home

When you say "dual carriageway" do you mean a speed limited one that might form the ring road around a town or the raging chaos that is the A34 or A303 where people regularly boot along at 90mph+?

I could easily see secondary school aged children crossing the first type, but no-one ever should be trying to cross the second type on foot.

The more north you go it gets darker earlier.
I wouldn’t walk 1 mile in the dusk/dark on an unlit road, no path. So I wouldn’t accept a 11 year old child doing it. I have never crossed a dual carriageway in my life? The speed limit is 70!! Running across two carriageways to middle grassed bit is dangerous.

If it's anything like our council, the buses won't turn up anyway. So even if you get one assigned, you end up driving the kids to school anyway. 😂

Appeal it op. Hopefully they will sort it out.

Loads of dual carriageways have pelican crossings on them at traffic lights. I cross several all the time where I live.