The school run reduces congestion.

[fungus]

I have just read this on the ABD website,

Bizarre PR from ETA Muddles Facts on School Run

No Wonder Transport Policy is on Another Planet
The ABD today cited a PR from the Environmental Transport Association (ETA) as an example of the muddled thinking on transport which leads to the daft policymaking we have seen over the past twenty years.

The ETA issued a press release (full text below) on 7 September claiming that the School Run actually reduces congestion.

A spokesperson for the ETA said:
"If every child started walking to school then by next year there would be no lull in traffic levels over the summer holidays - the extra road space would quickly be filled by business and commuter traffic."
"This statement shows a complete lack of understanding of the effect of the school run on traffic and of the nature of the lifestyle decisions which drive commuting patterns," said the ABD's Nigel Humphries. "This type of thinking is being applied to transport policy both nationally and locally, so its not surprising that Britain's transport network is increasingly divorced from the needs of the people."

The general lull in traffic in school holidays is nothing to do with the school run, it's driven by the fact that working people with families take their holidays at the same time as the schools, and so commuting and business travel are reduced at these times. People with children also tend to commute further, as their choices as to where to live are constrained by school concerns not merely what is convenient for the adults. So the suggestion that the roads around schools would fill up during the holidays is simply ridiculous — the traffic does not exist because its on holiday too — all sitting on the M5 trying to get to Cornwall!

The ingrained idea behind this argument — that empty roads fill up with traffic for no apparent reason — is what has led the ETA to make this obviously ludicrous statement. This argument has been used against road building and to support the removal of roadspace from traffic on the basis that creating congestion is a good thing because it deters traffic.

Used in the context of schools, the absurdity can be clearly seen — school run driving patterns are different from commuting ones and tend to create congestion in residential areas near the schools that are otherwise deserted at those times of day. Only where a school is sited on a commuter route do the two collide, and then commuters will shift their route or their time in the morning — so an increase in children walking to school and consequent reduction in school run congestion will do nothing but make peoples lives a little easier and mitigate congestion over a wider area — an all round good thing!

"We are mystified by the ETA's approach here — surely they should be doing everything possible to encourage children to walk to school, which is a good thing, rather than undermine this goal," concluded Humphries.






NOTES FOR EDITORS

ETA PR TEXT

The school run reduces congestion

The popular belief that without the school run traffic would always run as freely as in the holidays is false, and far from adding to congestion, the school run reduces it in cities according to the Environmental Transport Association (ETA).

A spokesperson for the ETA said: "If every child started walking to school then by next year there would be no lull in traffic levels over the summer holidays - the extra road space would quickly be filled by business and commuter traffic."

Although in a perverse way the school run appears to restrict congestion, the ETA is not campaigning for more people to drive their kids to school; children commuting to school by car have as much (or as little) right to travel in this way as anyone else, but there are many environmental, health and social reasons why children are better off walking or cycling.


Do these peoplle live in the real world? Where I live we have four schools, one a large comprehensive, within a one mile radius. There are three other schools just to the south & west of these schools. In the term time the traffic can easily queue for over a mile. During the school holidays, there is no queueing at all. I would estimate that traffic volumes are reduced by as much as 75 per cent out of term.

Nigel ADI
IAM observer

[Renny]

With garbage like that, I think I know who needs to go back to school!

[PeterE]

Of course traffic is also lighter during school holidays because a significant proportion of families are actually away on holiday.

[martine]

Heard a lecture from local council road engineer a few years ago. He explained if commuters chose not to use there car for just 1 day in 2 weeks (i.e. 1 in 10 working days or 10%) by using public transport/bike/foot or working from home, this would have roughly the same effect as happens during school holidays where they have measured 10% less traffic.

Because of the way busy junctions/roundabouts work a 10% reduction makes a huge difference to how the traffic flows apparently.

[jont]

Heard a lecture from local council road engineer a few years ago. He explained if commuters chose not to use there car for just 1 day in 2 weeks (i.e. 1 in 10 working days or 10%) by using public transport/bike/foot or working from home, this would have roughly the same effect as happens during school holidays where they have measured 10% less traffic.

And did he volunteer how often he chose not to drive to work?

[martine]

Heard a lecture from local council road engineer a few years ago. He explained if commuters chose not to use there car for just 1 day in 2 weeks (i.e. 1 in 10 working days or 10%) by using public transport/bike/foot or working from home, this would have roughly the same effect as happens during school holidays where they have measured 10% less traffic.

And did he volunteer how often he chose not to drive to work?

Hey chill Jon....sounded like a reasonable suggestion to me...and emphasised how a small change could have a large impact. 1 day at home in 2 weeks? Car-share once. Use your bike?

Personally being self-employed I can flex my travelling times to miss the rush and I can and do, work from home probably more than once in 2 weeks. I know it's not practical for everyone.

[jont]

Personally being self-employed I can flex my travelling times to miss the rush and I can and do, work from home probably more than once in 2 weeks. I know it's not practical for everyone.

I suffer daily the piss poor excuse that suffers for public transport round here in the form of FGW, or if the weather is decent, I cycle. So my car is never out and about at rush hour I'm just curious - it would seem like a rather hypocritical position to be advocating the general public do something one isn't prepared to do oneself. The latest farce is the new council offices in Yate that have (IIRC) 300 car parking spaces for 1000 employees. Of course I'm sure they'll all lift share/cycle etc rather than park in the surrounding roads and trading estates

[Octy_Ross]

I car share twice almost daily -

1 I drop my wife off to work
2 I pick up a woman and drop her off at her work round the corner from me.

I leave home at silly bollocks o clock and drop my wife in Beford for 30 minutes later. 20 minutes later I get my lift share in the car and then drop her off after about 25 minutes....5 minutes later I'm in the office.

Then I do it all backwards.

The woman gives me about 50% of what it costs to run her car weekly, which works out at about 35% of my weekly fuel bill, or to put it another way, beer tokens on Friday nights

Lift sharing EVERY day becomes un-realistic, but I'd say when we're all at work we'd be at about 80% of the time we share. I think this is the site we used to get in touch;

https://www.liftshare.com/uk/

[Gareth]

I think this is the site we used to get in touch;

https://www.liftshare.com/uk/

So that's how you met your wife

[Octy_Ross]

I thought we'd told you the story?

next time we see you I'll let her explain; although perhaps this will help http://www.urbantigerclub.co.uk/

[PeterE]

A further point which seems to have eluded the ETA is that school holidays mean that teachers aren't commuting to school, thus removing yet more traffic from the roads.