Basingstoke news and sport from the Basingstoke Gazette

Bus trial aims to ease school run

From the archive, first published Tuesday 30th Jan 2007.

A PILOT scheme involving yellow buses is being introduced in Basingstoke in a bid to cut congestion on the school run and help the environment.

As part of a three-year project, Hampshire County Council will try to persuade the parents of pupils at three Basingstoke schools to ditch the car in favour of sending their youngsters to school on the bus.

The dedicated buses will be launched at the end of February when they will start ferrying youngsters to and from Aldworth Science College and Kempshott and Park View junior schools. At present, the majority of the children at these schools arrive either by car, on the regular bus service or on foot.

The colourful paintwork on the sides of the pilot-scheme buses was the brainchild of 10-year-old Kempshott Junior School pupil Hannah Sullivan, of Bittern Close, Basingstoke, whose design was chosen from hundreds of entries in a competition.

Councillor Ken Thornber, leader of Hampshire County Council, said Basingstoke was chosen as a pilot area because it was identified as suffering from high congestion levels at school-run times and because a significant number of pupils live between one and three miles from their school.

Cllr Thornber added: "I've wanted to trial yellow school buses for some time now as I believe they have the potential to make a noticeable difference to congestion levels on roads around schools.

"I think the buses look fantastic and that's due in part to Hannah's design. She's done a wonderful job. The buses are bright, clean and comfortable and offer pupils a secure and convenient way to get to and from school."

Cllr Thornber said the main aim of the initiative was to encourage people to try other ways of getting to school apart from the car.

"We're looking at making better use of scheduled and school bus services so that they are more appealing to pupils," he said. "And we want to improve walking and cycling opportunities."

The pilot scheme, which is being funded by Hampshire County Council, will allow all pupils at the three participating schools to apply to use the new bus service.

The bus routes will be finalised once all the applications are in. In most cases, pupils will be collected from existing bus stops, but the council says the buses may also stop at an agreed location closer to a child's home if it is safe to do so.

First Group will operate the buses and there will be seatbelts on all seats. There will be a charge of £1 per day per pupil to travel on the buses, which compares favourably with the £7.40 that Stagecoach charges for a weekly child's bus ticket.

When a pupil is accepted to use the scheme, they will be issued with a boarding pass with their photo on to identify them. The bus drivers will have a register of which pupils to expect at each stop and contact details for parents or guardians.

Basingstoke borough and county councillor Phil Heath, who has been campaigning for yellow buses for about 12 years, said the pilot project is "brilliant" news.

He said: "If we were to get an American school bus system fully operational in Basingstoke, we could save 25,000 car journeys a year, saving on time, emissions and road wear and tear. But most importantly children will be able to get to and from school safely."

Julie Churcher, headteacher at Aldworth Science College, said the school is delighted to be part of the pilot project.

"It very much fits in with our travel plans and means that our children will be able to come to school safely," she said.

"We think it's an excellent project and we will do our best to make it a success because we think a lot of schools will benefit."