Congestion

[Alex321]

Well kids walked to school in the 60,70,80s as well. Have the pavements and crossings been removed since the 80s? I think not!

Volume and speed of traffic have both increased massively since those days, and roads that would have been safe to cross at junctions often aren't nowadays.

And of course those tables above still show walking as the single most common way of getting to school. Less so for secondary school, but that will often be several miles away, and it is still only about a quarter of secondary school children who go by car or van.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

only about a quarter of secondary school children who go by car or van

That’s not a small number! Work it out and you’ll see.

 

[Alex321]

That’s not a small number! Work it out and you’ll see.

I never suggested it might be.

 

[Electric_Andy]

Well kids walked to school in the 60,70,80s as well. Have the pavements and crossings been removed since the 80s? I think not!

you know what I mean. Traffic is much busier now than ever before. Roads which were once a few cars a minute are now a constant stream of traffic so without zebra crossings they are more hazardous

 

[Ming the Merciless]

you know what I mean. Traffic is much busier now than ever before. Roads which were once a few cars a minute are now a constant stream of traffic so without zebra crossings they are more hazardous

I think these are mostly excuses and that walking as an option hasn’t even been tried. Even where there is excellent walking infrastructure and safe routes you still see a parent driving precious a ridiculously short distance.

 

[Rusty Nails]

Indeed, which is why the natural response should be to reduce the space by half available to road traffic and convert that space into cycle paths and wider footpaths, thus maintaining the same level of congestion for those who choose to indulge in the driving in inner-city areas.

Could do, would do, should do.....won't.

Still, it keeps up the number of threads on cycling forums.

 

[mjr]

I think these are mostly excuses and that walking as an option hasn’t even been tried. Even where there is excellent walking infrastructure and safe routes you still see a parent driving precious a ridiculously short distance.

By dismissing the lack of appropriate crossings as a reason, it seems like denying that the crossing type needed changes as traffic volume increases.

And if one parent drove, it wouldn't be a problem. The problem is that so many drive. It's now needed to close roads outside schools to stop their bad habit endangering children, as well as provide or upgrade the crossings to make walking a realistic attractive option again.

 

[Electric_Andy]

Yes it's been discussed time and again. There are some who are lazy, and some who park like tw4ts, but for all the others there may still be valid reasons (not excuses) as to why a car is needed. It shouldn't be car or walk/bike. There should be other alternatives like buses. But in my area whenever I wanted to take a bus to work, it was always full of school kids and the bus didn't even stop becasue there were no seats left. Secondly it was a 1 hour 05min trip on the bus, at £5 a go, and the only one I could catch was the 8.05 (and be late) or the 7.05 (and have to wait at the door for an hour). Hardly a flexible option if you've got other commitments. So I chose to sit in traffic for 30 mins in the car (which lots of others do) and then for a year I cycled and showered which was 1 hour door to door, but the danger aspect put me off.

My colleague had to be in for 9am sharp, and had to pay £74/month for a bus pass and was often late because the bus didn't show, or was 20mins late. He ended up passing his test and getting a car as it was the only reliable option. And this is in the city of Plymouth where things are supposed to be metropolitan and efficient.

So it all boils down to, money is needed to make things better but no councils have any that they want to commit to infrastructure and improvement.

 

[Drago]

Councils would have to spend anything on improvements if drivers stopped making lazy-ass unnecessary journeys.

I read a while back that the average car journey in Greater Manchester was under a kilometre. Less than 1000 metres. That is simply crass self entitlement and bone idle laziness.

 

[Alex321]

Councils would have to spend anything on improvements if drivers stopped making lazy-ass unnecessary journeys.

I read a while back that the average car journey in Greater Manchester was under a kilometre. Less than 1000 metres. That is simply crass self entitlement and bone idle laziness.

Yes, but that is just not going to happen unless changes are made to infrastructure/laws that make it more attractive to use other methods of transport than to use the car.

It doesn't matter how lazy we think people are, or how unnecessary the journeys, people need something external to change before they will change their behaviour.

 

[kynikos]

I've just picked my granddaughter up from school, walking home as always, a distance of ~500 yards. As always she leaves the classroom with her 'bestie' - who lives a similar distance from school - and we walk together for 100 yards to where bestie's mum's car is parked. We carry on walking and bestie's mum does a three point turn in the carnage of loads of others on the school run before following us up the road. I say following because she never catches us up. She obviously knows this but it never sinks in that they'd be better on foot.

 

[cyberknight]

Vicks vaporub will sort out the congestion

 

[classic33]

you know what I mean. Traffic is much busier now than ever before. Roads which were once a few cars a minute are now a constant stream of traffic so without zebra crossings they are more hazardous

Junior school I went to has had a second crossing put in on the main road. About 50 yards from the same junction, bypass and the old road from the town centre that was there when I walked from the town centre. We knew then, as kids it'd be stupid to cross there. The safer option was the crossing above the school, put in when they upgraded the road. Or stay on one side and walk in to town. Current markings on the pavement shows its a 10 minute walk.
There was also a second, slightly longer way, off the main road. Went past a then busy industrial estate.

The things that have changed is the number of cars now dropping off and picking up, as close to the school as possible. Now there's only the one school with an entry on that road. The entrance for the CofE school was moved years ago during a rebuild.

The heavy industry that used the main road, and the industrial estate has gone down, private car use has gone up. Why is it now considered unsafe to make a ten minute walk from/to town. Isn't road safety taught at school any more.

 

[mjr]

You can't get much benefit from teaching road safety at school because the schoolchildren aren't the dangerous ones. You get a little benefit when they express horror at daddy or mummy using their phone while driving, but that's most of it.

Other than that, school road safety mostly terrifies children out of walking and cycling. Kids aren't daft. They realise the kerb isn't a safe place to stand when so many people drive and park on pavements, no matter how carefully they stop, look and listen. How could it be otherwise? The motoring lobby ain't going to allow children to be taught to reclaim the streets!

 

[Alex321]

The heavy industry that used the main road, and the industrial estate has gone down, private car use has gone up. Why is it now considered unsafe to make a ten minute walk from/to town. Isn't road safety taught at school any more.

I would think that the first sentence there is a large part of why it may be less safe nowadays. While there are of course exceptions, professional drivers tend on average to be better drivers than private (amateur) drivers.