Buses

At the moment, travel to schoool by bus can be provided in a number of ways - through statutory school transport, the comercial bus network, or dedicated school buses. The challenge is for schools, local transport and education authorities, and bus operators of different kinds to work together to increase the availability and attractiveness of bus services to a wider range of pupils.

Statutory school transport

For many years local education authroties (LEAs) have provided free transport for pupils who live beyond the 'statutory walking distances' to ensure that pupils are able to attend school. The 'statutory walking distances' are 3 miles for the 'nearest suitable' school (2 miles for the under eights). LEAs also provide free transport for pupils where it is specified in their statement of special educational need. Most free home to school transport is by bus or taxi.

Free school transport is popular with pupils and parents who receive it. However, many pupils and parents who live within the 2/3 mile limit think that the rules are out of date, as few pupils are prepared to walk almost 3 miles twice a day and many think its upfair that low income familities living 2.9 miles from school have to pay for school travel whereas affluent familities living 3 miles from school pay nothing.

The government is therefore considering whether to change the law to allow LEAs to trail alternative packages of school transport in order to reduce car use and increase bus patronage.

Non-statutory school transport

Public transport for children who are not entitled to free school travel can be provided through:

• Commercial operators, who may provide services at a full or discounted fare
  
• Local authoritiy supported bus services on routes they consider 'socially necessary' (many define non-statutory school journeys as a high priority for support)
  
• Dedicated school buses on the American 'Yellow Bus' model, which are currently being piloted at a range of different locations
  
• The use fo Local Authority discretionary powers to provide area-wide concessionary fares on public transport (common in urban areas); and
  
• Local authorities allowing children who are not entitled to free transport to travel on buses uperated for children who are entitled, where there is spare capacity.

Under the existing legislation, local education and transport authorities have considerable discretion to offer free or subsidised transport to pupils not entiteled to statutory free travel. However, finite resources and the increasing costs of statutory provision meant that discretionary provision has been decreasing steadily, and now accounts for very little of LEAs spending on home to school transport. Parents whose children live beyond what they consider a reasonable walking distances are increasingly choosing to drive them to school. The same is true of pupils who do not attend their nearest suitable school.

Some parents may have no realistic alternative to driving their children to school. However, we believe that if schools, local education and transport authorities, passenger transport executives and bus operators work together they can, in most cases, offer parents a real alternative.

What works

If services are to be attractive they must:

• be cost effective for parents, pupils and LEAs
  
• appeal to parents and pupils
  
• meet the needs of all pupils, including those who do not attend their 'nearest suitable' school
  
• discourage anti-social behaviour

Cost effectiveness

Schools, local authorities and bus operators need to work together to make public transport more attractive to young people. Children who are driven around in cars are less likely to use other means of transport when they grow up, so bus operators have a vested interest in making their services attractive to these young people, turning them into long-term customers.

LEAs who have dedicated home to school buses which they use for statutory school transport services can sell spare seats to non-entitled pupils, recouping some of their costs and reducing the number of cars on the school run.

Where there are no commercial alternatives, the Government expects LEAs, in consultation with their partners, to look at increasing the number of seats on a particular route. The could either contract for more than one bus, or use a bus with more seats and then market the extra paes to non-entitled pupils. The economies of scale should make the pricing competitive.

One of the most cost-effective ways of providing home to school transport is to use the same bus and driver for more than one trip - a practice known as 'double tripping'. This system makes additional journeys much cheaper. Double tripping is common practice in the United States. There, shcool start and finish times are determined at district level, and transport cost and availablility is a key factor in setting school hours. Some English local authorities are exploring whether double tripping could reduce transport costs, put more money into schools and give more hcildren the chance to travel by bus.

Small adjustments to school opening hours can cut travel costs significantly. Some LEAs are exploring how much they could save, so that schools and members can understand the changes to hours can result in more money for education delivery and more children are able to travel by bus.

Attractive service features

Some LEAs, schools and colleges already run dedicated services for pupils who are not entitled to free statutory school transport. Parents are often more willing to let their children travel independentyly at an earlier age on a dedicated school vehicle than on a public bus. This may make these services especially attractive to parents of primary school children. Dedicated bus services could give parents more time to get to work and significantly reduce congestion around schools, but they can be very expensive to provide.

The Department for Transport has evaluated a range of dedicated bus schomes bing run at a range of different locations. The results suggest that dedicated bus sesvices can attract pupils away from car-travel and can offer a range of features - such as designated drivers, local pick-ups and CCTV - that are popular with parents and pupils. Earlier research has shown that parents are willing to pay at least part of the cost of dedicated school buses for the quality and reassurance that these provide.

Other authorities are also operating innovative school bus schemes which many of the the features from the First schemes.

Some groups of parents have got together to run their own services - especially popular wtih those parents whose children go to a school other than the nearest suitable one.

Meeting travel needs, including for pupils who do not attend their 'nearest suitable school'

Although dedicated bus services offer a range of attractive features, especially for younger pupils, they may not be cost-effective for older children living further from schools. The fact that they are only used by small numbers and for short periods may make the difficult to justify on economic grounds. One way of improving value for money is to use vehicles for a range of educational purposes in addition to the journey to school. Local authorities may also be concerned that widespread use of dedicated bus services could undermine some commercially operated routes, on which a broader range of people depend.

Another approach - especially for older pupils - may be a package of measures to promote use of the existing bus network. The travel planning process provides a framework for negotiation between schools, local authroties an bus operators to improves services for pupils on both commercial and tendered bus services.

Transport for children attending more than one school and after school activities

As schools develop their education programmes and other activities beyond the traditional school day, children increasingly need to be able to access the school independently. Schools need to consider transport provision for out-of-hours activities as part of their school travel plans, and in partnership with stakeholders. Schools offering extended services to teh community, such as childcare, adult education or community sports programmes, should also include these in their travel plans.

Schools need to consider similar issues when pupils access facilities off the main school site, either as part of the 14 to 19 agenda or for educational visits. As the changes to the curriculum for 14 to 16 year olds are implemented from September 2004, more and more pupils are likely to need to travel during the day for lessons held away from the main school site.

Some instititutions may arrange transport for school visits. Schools may have their own minibuses to transport children. Schools with large number of children who cycle to school (such as Kesgrave High School) will be able to let children travel independently. Some LEAs may also organise sweeper buses.

Discouraging anti-social behaviour

One of the reasons why parents are sometimes reluctant to let their children travel independently on buses in the poor behaviour of some pupils. This is also an issue on some LEA contracted services, and is often cited as the reason for rising tender costs, as it becomes difficult to retain drivers, and because the cost of repairing vandalised vehicles

A number of authorities have developed excellent partnerships that have substantially improved poor behaviour.

Similar initiatives have been tried on local services. They have increased the number of adults using the services, who had previously been put off by the poor behaviour of pupils.

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