Morris Minor Owners Club

but in that case it's this that needs addressing - not people doing the school run.

both need addressing - that's the point, but I think we see it a lot closer than it first appears ;-)
At the end of the day I see what's in front of me first. You can't drive through Leamington or Warwick on a school day, at school in/out time - the 2 adjoining towns are completely blocked up, and a 2 mile journey takes an hour - cycling is quicker at these times.
Myton Road (has 3 schools) can take >45 minutes on its own and it's one of only 3 routes from Leamington to Warwick. On school holidays at the same time there is never a problem.
Some towns have introduced park and ride for shoppers, but none that I know of have done it for schools, because there is no money to do it. Businesses get stung for business rates that fund these things - Schools do not as they are mainly funded from local tax moneyanyway, so there's no point trying to tax them.

At the end of the day, car tagging might help the problem a tiny bit by penalising parents who don't want their teenage kid to use their legs, but I can't see it working to any great effect on any group of road users. It seems to be fundamentally flawed in my simple way of looking at things.
For a congestion charging to work, there needs to be congestion. If the system were to remove congestion, then the roads would be free, no penalties applied for using certain roads, and the traffic will come back (that can't work...). So all that will be achieved is a compromise between traffic jams and those who can afford (or can't avoid) to pay.
Nobody wins but everyone has to pay for a high tech gadget and the additional cost of administration (which could be seen as 'everyone looses')

Just my low tech view on it. I'm not saying I'm right - I'd gladly be proved wrong!

Very young kids also cannot be expected to go to school entirely on their own for obvious safety reasons

Ah, how times have changed. I used to go (aged 5) to primary school on the bus in London, on my own after the first few trips to get me used to the journey.

It was 1 1/2 d (1p) each way, although I seem to recall it very quickly went up to 2d.

I was allowed to walk instead, and spend the cash I'd saved on sweets. That and what we could get from pressing button 'B' in the phone boxes, and gathering the refunds that people had forgotten to collect).

(Who else remembers the extra free Beech nut chewing gum packet every fourth turn?)

The journey seems very long in my mind. I looked it up on Google maps today, and it was 1.2 miles door to door .

I still think it was further.

They do say that cheap air travel has made the world a smaller place. Must be true .

When I went to school I had to walk ten miles barefoot in the rain and snow,with just a dry crust of bread in my satchel to keep me going for the day.My parents couldn`t afford the half a groat it cost to travel on the local cart.Kids today just don`t know they`re born

You got a crust of bread!?!?!
never got that in my day...

Um, even I used to walk the 3 miles to school. Occasionally I'd get a lift, when my dad was going to work late and would run me in. Later I cycled...

When I was tiny small, and it used to snow enough, my sister used to pull me in to school on my sledge, when I was a bit older I had to pull my sledge, and when I was older still I just wore snow-boots

both need addressing

But you cannot force people to walk if the distance is simply too far! Once things are nearer to where people live, then it'd be more reasonable to take some kind of action. Your comment about school busses is bang on though - it would solve the problem very quickly.

I used to go (aged 5) on the bus

Well when a certain person (who happens to be the mayor of a large city somewhere near the Thames ) said that 6 year olds should go to school on their own on public busses etc the NSPCC said that would probably not be particularly legal... I understand that might have been alright in the past but if I were a parent I certainly wouldn't allow it.

penalising parents who don't want their teenage kid to use their legs

For a lot of people that isn't an option. People came from up to 20 miles away to my school - hardly walking distance. Personally I'd class about a mile as walking distance.

I agree with your analysis of the tagging system though. I do find the whole idea rather creepy. Plus I see it as unnecessary - we already 'pay-as-you-drive' through petrol taxes. Granted that does not take into account how busy the roads are but if the taxes were removed from fuel then there would be less incentive to buy fuel-efficient cars.

Anyway I'd better stop ranting

Ah well - my friend Tim recently cycled to Hong Kong. Fortunately he was at school early enough to be allowed to ride a bike, rather than be strapped 'safely' in a car ;-)
www.cycle2crossroads.co.uk

Chris - keep ranting if you want to - as long as you don't think any of this is personal! It's a mere discussion on road/transport policy. It has certainly been interesting to hear the views from someone in the scool-run generation.

if the taxes were removed from fuel

You don't honestly think road pricing would be instead of fuel tax? It will be as well as...

Purely a tax raising wheeze, nothing to do with congestion or green issues.

Axolotl wrote:

if the taxes were removed from fuel

You don't honestly think road pricing would be instead of fuel tax? It will be as well as...

Purely a tax raising wheeze, nothing to do with congestion or green issues.

Yes, I agree, the government see the whole green bandwagon thing as a big money spinner. I think its good that they got upset about the popularity of the petition- and it got in the national press! I still believe we can stop the government if enough people stand up ane be counted and say "non" over an issue. We should be a bit more like the French in this respect.

Axolotl wrote: You don't honestly think road pricing would be instead of fuel tax? It will be as well as...

Purely a tax raising wheeze, nothing to do with congestion or green issues.

Given this is being proposed by the same people as want to bring in an ID card database because they're scared you might like being free (and also because they can then sell your data to anyone who offers a few quid), I don't see this as purely being about money. Certainly making more money is a big part of it, but that could be done so incredibly easily without track n trace technology.

No, to me it's about another tier of control over information that any government of any free country shouldn't want or need. And quite possibly money comes into it both from what can be squeezed out the motorist and who can be backhandered for the tech contracts.

I don't want to be too political because this isn't the board for it, but this is a deeply political issue that to me goes far further than smugly getting a few quid out the Chelsea tractor school run brigade

I agree.

I agree Packedup. I too care more about that issue than the money side of things.

Nothing personal at all Ray! It's interesting to hear everyone's views and also to put mine across.

Like most people..over a certain age.. when I went to school we couldn't afford a car so we used to walk 2 mile each way carrying a haversack full of books and never think about it... wish I was as fit now
I live on a main road and there is a school a few hundred yards from me, my next door neighbour spends 5 minutes every morning putting the two kids in the car... drives along to the school, drops them off and returns home empty, I was joking with her last year about it being quicker to walk as drive, but the answer was... Oh !! the kids won't walk... so there you go
I avoid driving past the school at the known times, as they park both sides and don't give a damm about other road useres..
No wonder the rest of the world laughs at our 'Nanny' state
I'd make em walk

Mal