are commuters the problem or is it school traffic?

Beerbaron said:
The 3 into 2 at Welwyn is always a bottleneck.
Click to expand...

Indeed, it's such a pain. A load of people go the back way through Stevenage and Knebworth it get round it, but it's just as bad a screws things up for the villages.
There doesn't seem to be any way of expanding the 2 lanes on the A1 there, so it'll only get worse.
 
I happen to live close to a school at the minute and have noticed that a large number of the kids are brought to school by grandparents. People that usually wouldn't be on the road at that time.

What I have noticed as well is the shocking lazyness of people. Kids I know for a fact live less than a mile away from the school and yet get driven there.

One particular example is from when I went to school. Every morning I had a 300m walk to the bus stop (I say walk I tended to either run or mope depending on my mood). A girl I went to school with lived about 100m close to the bus-stop than me.
Every day her grandad would drive from the other side of our town, about a 3 mile drive, to pick her up from her house and drive her to the bus-stop. I'd literally walk past her waiting at her front door for him to pick her up and make it to the bus-stop before her.
 
"andy" said:
if they change school times to be after buisness times then it messes with the millions of parents who drop the kids off on their way to work...
Click to expand...

Locally the new primary free schools are proving very popular, in my opinion, partly due to the fact you can drop your kids off at 7am for the breakfast club. A fried who sends his kid there certainly states that as the reason because it means he can get the kids and himself where they need to be on time.

As more schools become academy's I can see this trend of early starts spreading. It will be interesting to see if this has an impact on the roads, my prediction is that it won't make much of a difference.
 
Dis86 said:
What I have noticed as well is the shocking lazyness of people. Kids I know for a fact live less than a mile away from the school and yet get driven there.
Click to expand...

could some of those being dropped off on the way to work?
I'm sure in some cases yes it is just laziness, but that isn't just school kids, it's the general public.
For instance at the end of my road there is a shop, it has a lay by for parking probably easy 5 cars, so walk wise you're 10-15, 20 tops seconds away from the shop door, I often see drivers bumping up the curb (has a wide path outside the shop) so they can park RIGHT outside the shop door, often when there is nothing in the lay by!
I've even see someone pull into the lay by about mid lenght, so potentially all of 15 seconds from the shop door, pull out again and go up the kerb.
I'm sorry but lazy thoughtless ***** are everywhere - don't try to pin that one purely on parents dropping their kids off, earth shattering acts of tardness are everywhere :rolleyes:
 
School traffic is definitely the main issue. The roads have been bare this week with them off school.

I find most of them are big Range Rovers or BMW 4x4's with one kid in the front seat.
 
School traffic for me, but possibly its effect on parent's commuting - it compresses them into a 10-15 minute window for dropping the kids off and then continuing to work, whereas in the holidays the commuting times are more spread out.
 
Jez said:
In my opinion (from observation) it is not school traffic which is the issue. The primary reason that the roads are quieter during school holidays is due to the fact that the workforce at most places of work is greatly reduced during school holidays, as parents naturally book annual leave to match these dates.
Click to expand...

This.

My commute takes me away from town and the schools, but on the holidays the roads are noticeably quieter. It can't possibly be caused by a reduction in school run traffic, unless the majority of people take their kids to school 20 miles out of town.

Clearly commuters are just taking holidays to coincide with their kids being off school.
 
eatcustard said:
Same for me.
Kids should be forced to walk to school, where possible or parents should be taxed for taking them there.
Click to expand...

As above, are you sure it's not just that there's less commuters on the road, because they've taken a holiday to fit in with the school holidays?

I'm not disputing that school traffic contributes to some congestion, but my commute (which goes no-where near any schools) is much quieter on school holidays. This has to be because commuters are also taking holidays to match the schools.

Forcing kids to walk to school would do nothing to affect the traffic on my commute. But I do still see quieter roads on school holidays.
 
div0 said:
This.

Clearly commuters are just taking holidays to coincide with their kids being off school.
Click to expand...

I'm going with this, when i traverse the M1/M25 its not cars full of kids that are taking up the roads. Its people like me, commuters and lorry's! :)

School traffic might affect a surrounding area but i bet its marginal in the grand scheme of congestion.
 
eatcustard said:
Same for me.
Kids should be forced to walk to school, where possible or parents should be taxed for taking them there.
Click to expand...

Really?
Then so should commuters, my gran parents and a lot of old folk will tell you back in the day they used to walk a couple of miles to work every day each way, so we can all do the same now, and to be generous those outside say 2.5 miles MUST take the bus - if not tax the b jesus out of them, that'll make the school run easier
 
Quite - some think the school run gets in their way to go to work, thus have no right to be there.
Fact is both parties have equal right to use the roads, and both would be better off if the other wasn't there
 
Dead Dog said:
Quite - some think the school run gets in their way to go to work, thus have no right to be there.
Fact is both parties have equal right to use the roads, and both would be better off if the other wasn't there
Click to expand...

Most kids can walk to school but are to fat/lazy to do so. Parents being dumb take said fat/lazy child to school in car, causing excessive traffic congestion.

This means I spend more time than needed in car, wasting my time/petrol.
 
Jez said:
In my opinion (from observation) it is not school traffic which is the issue. The primary reason that the roads are quieter during school holidays is due to the fact that the workforce at most places of work is greatly reduced during school holidays, as parents naturally book annual leave to match these dates.
Click to expand...

This. Commuter traffic and school traffic aren't mutually exclusive.
 
Dead Dog said:
Really?
Then so should commuters, my gran parents and a lot of old folk will tell you back in the day they used to walk a couple of miles to work every day each way, so we can all do the same now, and to be generous those outside say 2.5 miles MUST take the bus - if not tax the b jesus out of them, that'll make the school run easier
Click to expand...

I almost wish that we could go with this suggestion, though not necessarily the bus. I've friends who live less than two miles from their place of work and yet drive. It absolutely boils my biscuit.
For those wondering about me, I work 17 miles from home and usually drive but during the summer cycle to work too.
 
eatcustard said:
Most kids can walk to school but are to fat/lazy to do so. Parents being dumb take said fat/lazy child to school in car, causing excessive traffic congestion.

This means I spend more time than needed in car, wasting my time/petrol.
Click to expand...


eatcustard said:
Not to the point where travel time is reduce by 30% (for me)
Click to expand...

Maybe you could either get a job with in walking distance or move to with in walking distance - Hang on, that wouldn't work, the pavements would be full of those pesky normal size kids with normal parents hmmmmmm...... I got it shift work - BINGO ...... oh wait then the roads would have those inconsiderate hgv things on them delivering stupid stuff like food and stuff for industry and the general ticking over of the country...... move, shiftwork & walk, I think that is the only way to go.

Dis86 said:
I almost wish that we could go with this suggestion, though not necessarily the bus. I've friends who live less than two miles from their place of work and yet drive. It absolutely boils my biscuit.
For those wondering about me, I work 17 miles from home and usually drive but during the summer cycle to work too.
Click to expand...

Yeah sorry the bus was one step too far :D

I've mostly lived in villages and worked in town 10+ miles away, the bus has never been an option public transport is useless.
Now I live in one town and work in the next 7+ miles, my eldest gets a school bus and I drop my youngest off on the way to work as I virtually drive past the school anyway tbh sometimes he walks it is in walking distance 15 minutes walk, I like him to walk, but I also like taking him, it's another 1/4 hr I can spend with him before the day begins, and it isn't a busy area anyway.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom