Better home-school transport in Bath & N E Somerset

5:58 pm PDT, Apr 12, Caitlyn Nelson, North Carolina

4:05 am PDT, Mar 28, Shannon Sultan, Wisconsin

5:08 pm PDT, Mar 27, Chayut Wattano, Thailand

11:49 am PDT, Mar 9, Debbie Butz, Illinois

11:52 pm PST, Mar 3, JOCELYNE ANNIE, Canada
ADD MORE BUSES !!

12:25 pm PST, Mar 1, Demossier Marion, United Kingdom
If bus transport were reliable and better organised for all children in the Bath area, it would reduce congestion drastically as well as improving the quality of life.

12:22 pm PST, Mar 1, Julian Swann, United Kingdom
Please improve school transport this is crucial for the future of our children's lives.

4:31 am PST, Feb 18, Terry L. west, West Virginia

1:58 am PST, Feb 14, Pippa Weaver, United Kingdom
I think the available bus services in bath are inadequate for the needs of school children and the costs are far too high - i have had times when i have struggled to affford the fares to school and it is not feasable for my child to walk - i have another child starting at Ralph Allen in september and my bill for transport will be £27 per week!

9:38 am PST, Feb 6, Joanne McCarron, United Kingdom
If the council took more time to consider what actually causes congestion in Bath, they would find that a lot of it is caused by parents on the school run because they have few options. Instead of planning to put the 54m government money towards REAL transport issues like this, they decide to waste it on schemes which local residents do not want or will not benefit from. I wish this council would start to lsten to Bath residents.

4:12 am PST, Feb 1, Rachel Hamilton, United Kingdom
Children have no choice but to attend school. The current arrangements penalise both children and parents.

3:16 am PST, Jan 31, Elinor Wood, United Kingdom
£15 a week is ridiculous to get to and from Secondry School, especially as it's cumpulsory. University Students get a discount and it's their choice to go to University.

12:34 pm PST, Jan 29, Peter Hayman, United Kingdom

4:25 am PST, Jan 29, Heather Kale, United Kingdom
The health and safety of our children is of paramount importance. By providing school transport there would be far fewer cars on the roads making everyone safer and parents would have the reassurance that their children were being taken safely to school and home again.

11:36 am PST, Jan 28, Andrew Cessford, United Kingdom
It is a sorry state of affairs when the parents of children have to buy adult price tickets for their children to get to school. This is because a childs ticket, which can only be bought daily, is more expensive than a weekly adult pass. It also becomes an insult to our intelligence when the bus company hide behind an excuse that they cannot operate the service at a profit even though the buses are filled to over capacity with children.

10:58 am PST, Jan 28, George Lindars-Hammond, United Kingdom
This is a very important isuue.

10:12 am PST, Jan 28, Bryn Jones, United Kingdom
I was pressing for school bus services nearly 20 years ago. It is such an obvious way to reduce traffic - cf differences in school holidays. It should be at or near the top of B&NES's transport priorities.

9:15 am PST, Jan 28, Name not displayed, United Kingdom

8:35 am PST, Jan 28, Rebecca Richardson, United Kingdom
I am appalled at the cost of public transport in bath, we are being well and truely ripped off...no wonder we choose to use our cars!! In this matter I have no choice, as I have to take my youngest daughter to school on one side of the city, whilst my older daughter travels across the city to her secondary school, at a cost of £56.00 per month! Since my daughter started school in september, a bus has been dropped from the timetable, forcing her to wait twice as long in town, at a busy, unsheltered bus stop. I have had to phone First buses on several occasions to ask why her and friends were left standing at the stop directly outside her school, in full view, as their bus raced by! Surely we can do better by our children? First Bus is laughing all the way to the bank, at our expense, and Banes council has failed us on yet another issue. Change is long overdue.

6:48 am PST, Jan 28, Sarah Ellis, United Kingdom

2:17 am PST, Jan 28, Name not displayed, United Kingdom
There is NO B&NES help for children from Paulton to schools in Midsomer Norton and Radstock.

2:07 am PST, Jan 28, Name not displayed, United Kingdom
Providing better transport for school children makes sense for everyone as it reduces car journeys and congestion.

1:38 am PST, Jan 28, Karen Gyde, United Kingdom

1:25 am PST, Jan 28, John Chantry, United Kingdom
I am not able to attend the meeting at the Guildhall due to having to be in work but I welcome the chance to state my views. I work at Ralph Allen and see on a daily basis the disruption caused to children's education, at both ends of the day, by the inadequate bus service they receive. These problems have been going on since I joined the school. The priority this issue gets sends out all the wrong messages about how much we as a society value our young people (our future), especially when seen in comparison to the priority that other issues, such as the Bath Spa project seem to receive. [I understand that a large amount of money (£380k) has been cut from the BANES budget for Young People to go towards provision of Youth facilities, without any consultation with young people]. How is this going to meet the implementation of the Children's Plan? It is little surprise that a few teenagers can behave in anti-social ways when they are treated like this. On this particular issue it also seems most unfair that proper transport is provided to some (faith) schools but not to others. I know this is a complex issue, but please do not use this as an excuse to do nothing. There are some great ideas out there about how to tackle the problems - let's do something, make a difference and not put up with a shoddy and unacceptable service that only contributes to pressures on parents to take the wrong (environmentally unsustainable) option by driving their children to school. Thank you.

11:48 pm PST, Jan 27, Pam Aitchison, United Kingdom

11:43 pm PST, Jan 27, Jackie Guy, United Kingdom

2:03 pm PST, Jan 27, Chloe Somers, United Kingdom

1:43 pm PST, Jan 27, Natalie Davis, United Kingdom
as a parent of an 8 and a 6 year old, who does not drive, I am following the developmemts of this campaign with great interest.

1:35 pm PST, Jan 27, Rebecca Hodson, United Kingdom
This is not a city that can cope with cars and the 'school run' traffic alm,ost brings it to a standstill. we know what we have to do!

1:21 pm PST, Jan 27, E Ward, United Kingdom
I Have two children who need a safe and reliable transportation to and from school. one has a disability and this is extremely worrying for me and my husband.

10:10 am PST, Jan 27, Olivia Thomas, United Kingdom
I am fed up with waiting at the bus stop especially when it is cold and raining, only to arrive late to school.

10:07 am PST, Jan 27, Mike Berry, United Kingdom
outrageous cost for a very unreliable service.

9:56 am PST, Jan 27, Alison Berry, United Kingdom
Wildly overpriced for very poor service. It's costing £5.40 a day for two children to attend school(over £1000 a year!). The bus is frequently late, registration is missed, year group assembly missed and we as parents receive text messages from Ralph Allen School saying that the children are absent.

6:18 am PST, Jan 27, Lynda Devenish, United Kingdom
Every child should have a right to have a place on a bus that enables them to be educated. I am not surprised that Bath council appears not to view the larger picture of congestion & chooses to allow many parents to drive their children to school whilst at the same time encouraging us to use public transport.

4:47 am PST, Jan 27, Name not displayed, United Kingdom

3:10 am PST, Jan 26, Name not displayed, United Kingdom
This will also cut congestion and lower BaNES carbon footprint.

8:41 am PST, Jan 25, Dan Crouch, United Kingdom

8:16 am PST, Jan 25, Name not displayed, United Kingdom
The journy from my home on the outside of Bath to my place of wotk in the town centre should take me 10-15mins by bus or car, however when children are at school it can take me up to 50mins. And this is always delayed because of children being dropped off by parents stopping directly outside the school and holding traffic up.

5:22 am PST, Jan 25, Caroline Grange, United Kingdom
Please make sure there are enough seats on buses for all secondary school children who need them to travel safely to and from school - you wouldn't let your child not have a seat belt on in a car - so they should not have to stand on a crowded bus. Thank you.

4:26 am PST, Jan 25, Liv Prowse, United Kingdom
For more impact, add a personal comment here

2:44 am PST, Jan 25, Name not displayed, United Kingdom
How dare B&NES talk about Congestion Charging until they sort out their expensive and unreliable bus system first! At least London has a half good bus service and FREE CHILD TRANSPORT to soften the CC blow! Also, if the Local Authority builds a school like RA in an inaccessible place it surely has a duty to get children there on time, cheaply and safely.

2:52 pm PST, Jan 24, Tony Conlon, United Kingdom
Environmentally and rationally it is the only logical solution; ensure bus travel is regular, reasonably priced and convenient and it will ensure its increased usage. Increase cost, reduce regularity and increase inconvenience and buses disappear; the knock on is congestion, more accidents and a generation who will not see bus travel as an option.

1:56 pm PST, Jan 24, Anne Mishra, United Kingdom
If Bath council supplied affordable, reliable and safe transport for all school children then this would inevitably reduce problems with rush hour traffic. Please look at the bigger picture.

1:46 pm PST, Jan 24, Teresa Stott, United Kingdom
Generally more school bus or coach facilities, at a term rate. I will soon have 4 children in secondary school.Traveling from Beechen Cliff to Weston. This will cost me £12 a day, by bus.

11:26 am PST, Jan 24, Ashling Gilbert, United Kingdom

10:42 am PST, Jan 24, Suzanne Gilbert, United Kingdom
I am fortunate to live on a bus route to my childrens school. However the cost of £1.50 per child each way is very expensive, costing me £6.00 per day. I cannot afford this so I drive my children to school most of the time. It seems unfair that children who live in villages just outside of Bath get transported to school free of charge regardless of income. Why cannot there be a flat fare, where each child pays a fair amount, rather than some paying nothing and others paying too much. It is of note that it is often the wealthy that can afford to live in the picturesque villages to the south of Bath, that qualify for free transport.

9:38 am PST, Jan 24, Thom Guy, United Kingdom
Does it have to be yellow?

9:35 am PST, Jan 24, Name not displayed, United Kingdom

9:26 am PST, Jan 24, Simon Kale, United Kingdom
The use of school buses is essential to reduce the number of car journeys made.

7:29 am PST, Jan 24, Name not displayed, United Kingdom

6:19 am PST, Jan 24, Emma Bannister, United Kingdom
Parents are using the high cost of bus travel and the poor service as a reason to drive their kids to school - make changes now to the bus service so that it becomes the only logical way of travelling to school. This will have lots of spin-off benefits including giving the kids independence and start them on a life long dependence on buses as a way to get around town.

5:59 am PST, Jan 24, Mark Webb, United Kingdom

5:57 am PST, Jan 24, Name not displayed, New York

5:56 am PST, Jan 24, Teresa Bellaccomo, United Kingdom

5:55 am PST, Jan 24, Donna Picton, United Kingdom
Why do I have to pay for my son yo attend the school of his choice. Not just pay, but FIRST group do not provide a childs monthly bus pass, therefore I have to find £52 pcm so that he can get to school. As I am on income support, this takes a large chunk of my income, namely 17%. Where is the justice in this? Especially, when you consider that Ralph Allen provides transport for their pupils.

3:10 am PST, Jan 24, Name not displayed, United Kingdom
Appropriate school buses should be available free of charge for all children to get to and from school safely and without discrimination as to where they live.

2:34 am PST, Jan 24, Alison Bartlett, United Kingdom
We need to look after our children and insuring they get to school safe and sound is imperative!

1:19 am PST, Jan 24, Catherine McCabe, United Kingdom

1:07 am PST, Jan 24, Victoria Thomas, Wyoming

11:49 pm PST, Jan 23, Caroline Harland, United Kingdom
We have twin boys who will be starting senior school in September, the fares will cost us about £30 per week! Four years ago when my eldest son started senior school, the fares were about £6 per week for one person. What a difference in four years!!!!

2:12 pm PST, Jan 23, Helen Folkes, United Kingdom
I am so relieved that someone is tackling this issue for Bath residents. Since my son started at secondary school I have written to Don Foster, the Education Authority in Keynsham and Firstbus about the high costs of school buses, but sadly no-one seemed willing to help or change the situation. I'm glad to know that I am not the only one infuriated by this.

12:36 pm PST, Jan 23, Lynda Goddard, United Kingdom

10:29 am PST, Jan 23, Katherine Bunnett, United Kingdom

9:42 am PST, Jan 23, Kate Dixon, United Kingdom

9:36 am PST, Jan 23, Name not displayed, United Kingdom

8:51 am PST, Jan 23, Honor Jones, United Kingdom

8:39 am PST, Jan 23, Jette Baker, United Kingdom
reduce cars doing the school run in Bath by providing better public transport for all children in the Bath area. Cut rush hour congestion, get people out of their cars into public transport, onto bikes and using their feet!

5:43 am PST, Jan 23, Nick Jones, United Kingdom
I find it extraordinary that the Council can spend £35m on a Spa for tourists but cannot ensure that all our pupils have seats on the bus to school!

5:38 am PST, Jan 23, Emma Bloom, United Kingdom

4:50 am PST, Jan 23, Mark Fisher, United Kingdom
I would like to have a situation where there would be free or reduced bus fares for children attending school.

4:30 am PST, Jan 23, Katharine Smith, United Kingdom
It would be comforting to know that the local authority considers not only the local issue of transport and it's effects on our community but the wider issues of energy use and it's impact on our world environment. How can it possibly be economical, efficient or healthy to transport children individually to school in cars when a bus can carry 40 or more passengers on the same journey and children can incorporate a short walk to the pick up/drop off points, opportunity for exercise being an additional factor in our children's modern lifestyle.

3:07 am PST, Jan 23, Michael Harrison, United Kingdom

2:29 am PST, Jan 23, Ceri Morgan, United Kingdom
A priority is to keep our children safe, provide equality of opportunity and provision,encourage their independence and ensure due care of their environment. For this reason transport for all young people should be accessable and affordable