Dedicated school buses get ‘thumbs up’

Dedicated school bus services are popular with parents and pupils and can play a valuable role in providing an alternative to using the car for the school run, according to new research published by the DfT last week.

The report forms part of the DfT's joint working with DfES to reduce car dependency on the school run and improve the range of options open to parents and children.

The research assessed the impact of three Yellow School Bus pilots in Hebden Bridge (West Yorkshire), Runnymede (Surrey) and Wrexham (North Wales) and other school travel schemes around the country.

Key findings include:

• children of both primary and secondary school age valued the convenience of a school bus system
  
• parents liked the safety and security - especially having familiar, dedicated drivers
  
• parents and students highly rated the convenience of a pick up/drop off point close to home and school
  
• the yellow colour was not an attribute highly ranked by parents or students. It was a positive image for parents of primary pupils but less liked by secondary pupils
  
• in some circumstances the prospect of dedicated buses could attract children away from cars
  
• dedicated bus services can sometimes discourage children from walking and cycling and may have negative impacts on commercial bus services. These impacts could be mitigated through careful scheme design.

Charles Clarke, education secretary, said: "This research shows that dedicated school bus services are popular with parents and pupils and can reduce car use on the school run. I hope that LEAs will consider - through the schemes we have outlined in ‘Travelling to school: an action plan’ - how dedicated school buses can contribute to a high quality and cost effective school transport system, which provides an attractive service for parents who might otherwise use the family car."

The report 'Evaluation of First Yellow Bus Pilots Schemes' is available from the DfT website www.dft.gov.uk.