Commute to work so much shorter when schools are off

[Ifo]

I believe that traffic levels have gone up since parents were able to choose which school their DCs go to. Parents apply without thinking about how their DC get to school. Yes car.

It’s half term here and my journey to work during term time is 1 hour - 1 hour 10 mins. This week, I left home 15 minutes later and arrive 10 mins earlier than the ETA upon leaving.

This is even with more people doing hybrid/WFH.

i think admission policy should revert back to postcodes. Except for in DC with severe SEND.

Well add to that that on the small local bus in our area sometimes it’s packed (so you can’t get on) with school children. A few would travel from far away but the ones who can walk are just lazy imo. When I was younger there was no free travel, you walked or if you had money you got the bus. You could also travel a few stops (short hop) for free.

When I was younger there was no free travel, you walked or if you had money you got the bus. You could also travel a few stops (short hop) for free

So there was free travel! 😂

I agree commutes are shorter in school holidays but that has been the case (IME) sine the late 1990s.

Parents being able to select their schools has nothing to do with it.

Why don't we have a rule that all kids go to their closest school and all adults must work within cycling distance of their home? That way none of the problem you outline would exist!

I want other people to not use their car, so it’s easier for me to use my car

Reminds me of the Covid threads; “i was driving to work today & the roads were packed, don’t people understand it’s a pandemic” or “I went to the supermarket & the queue was so long, there’s a pandemic”.

I despair tbh!

Its crazy how many people drive their kids to school without looking at other options, its the highest percentage its ever been compared to previous generations. It seems like such a stressful way to start the day.

Op didn’t say she doesn’t want them on the bus, I think they were pointing out the distance children travel by mentioning seeing kids on the bus

Do you honestly, really think that people drive their kids to school because they've never considered that there could be another option? As opposed to not finding any of those other options as practical?

Yeah but not for an hour long or half hour journey.

@Gonnagetgoingreturnsagain an hour journey in London is completely normal for many secondary dc on public transport!

You think a 30 min journey to secondary is extremely?! JFC

@Coconutter24 I know, I was being flippant, it probably needed a <flippant> to be clear...

Yes, secondary school children will get the bus, and may be going to a school that requires a bus or car journey, and that is very likely to have been the nearest school on their preference list that they met the admissions criteria for. Parents do not get a choice, you get one of your preferences, if you are lucky and pragmatic with your preferences, or you get the next nearest school with places left if you don't get any of your preferences.

Apologies you are talking about free travel!

The fact remains there was free travel!

It was a perk admittedly.

Its crazy how many people drive their kids to school without looking at other options, its the highest percentage its ever been compared to previous generations

i wonder if there is a correlation with how many families have both parents working f/t & commute lengths with car usage?

This is not a new phenomenon, it has always been the case that school holidays mean less traffic. Granted I am not i the UK but I thought this was almost a worldwide thing. Less cars as less kids being dropped off but also no school buses, teachers not having to drive, other school staff not having to drive etc. It has always been the case.

This is where the individual can do very little. Jobs naturally concentrate in a central area. There simply isn't the square footage available for everyone in those jobs to live nearby. I did once have an office job while living in a suburb, but when I moved I had to start commuting into the city on a Tube.

Why dont you work closer to home? Why should you get precedent on road use? Why should everyone else pay for your convenience?!

Traffic has always been lower when schools are off, this isn’t new.

It's convenient for me to drive my daughter to school as we live rurally and our village school closed over 10 years ago due to low numbers.

It's a 10 minute drive. No other transport options.
I also drive back home after. Apologies.

So OP’s takeaway is that no one should have much control over the school they use in order for her to work further away. She probably calls other people entitled too.

Where I live all primaries are within a mile of home, secondaries within a couple of miles, and placements in other schools are very unusual. And the roads are still rammed at primary drop off time (later than secondary) every day except school holidays. I don't drive btw.

Why are you polluting the roads for 1 hour per journey and not getting a job nearer home?

Yes, an awful lot of parents simply don't consider walking if they have a car.

My DC went to a secondary school that was just under a mile from our house through a residential area with all footpaths and no major roads to cross. Barring SEN that meant a child couldn't be trusted to make the journey on their own, physical disability, or needing to take in their double bass, there is absolutely no reason why any parent that lived in a house between ours and the school needed to drive their child. And yet, there were dozens of them.

My commute was varied as was sent all over the country and into London. In half term the commute in the morning was half, pretty much. Going home didn't make an awful lot of difference but was fab in the mornings.
Mix of school runs and not working I guess?