[Travel] Brighton transport 'chaos' II

[Cheshire Cat]

I had to take two trains and a mile walk either end of the train journey to get to school back in the days, so no sympathy here.

 

[Weststander]

I had to take two trains and a mile walk either end of the train journey to get to school back in the days, so no sympathy here.

Why didn’t your family simply move closer to Eton College?

 

[Weststander]

But those are invalid reasons.. There have been no increases in the number of kids killed or abducted by strangers in the last 60 years. Thankfully, it's very, very rare. I was the virtually the same age as Keith Lyon when he was killed in Brighton, I still walked to school, over the Downs, every day in the months following his death. I don't recall any parents keeping their child in because of it.


And how increasing the amount of traffic around the school reduces the risk of being killed by a car defeats me - surely the more traffic, the greater the risk?

Totally agree with you.

But the mindset of parents, including myself, has for some reason changed.

From about 10 years old I was a free spirit, getting up to whatever I wanted miles away from home, some of it in quiet copses or woodlands, riding on dangerous roads without a helmet.

My own kids are much more pampered and worried over.

I didn’t drive them 300m to school btw, but some of my neighbours did for the full 7 years of primary school.

 

[virtual22]

Climate change is not a conspiracy. Get your head out of the sand it is embarrassing.

Totally agree. Sadly though pretty much every change B&H make from a roads point of view adds further gridlock, more vehicles stationary and therefore increasing pollution. Not just cars, they had to remove part of the cycle lane as buses and ambulances were getting stuck as well. I can't think of a single major project they have undertaken in recent years which has lowered pollution. It needs a radical change of thinking and giving people viable alternatives, i.e. a park and ride / park and peddle / park and stride!

 

[Machiavelli]

Street controls for 14 Brighton schools

https://www.transportxtra.com/publi...6572/street-controls-for-14-brighton-schools/

Brighton & Hove City Council will be closing streets around schools in a bid to encourage cycling and walking as pupils return to classrooms next week

From September, 14 schools will be taking part in the city’s School Streets project, which aims to help get children safely back to school by making extra physical distancing space at the school gate.

What do you expect from a Green-led council: it's the war on the motorist

 

[Stat Brother]

What do you expect from a Green-led council: it's the war on the motorist

Yet that comment is exactly what I'd expect from someone who doesn't understand local politics, national politics, the current conservative governments agenda or how this is being rolled out nationally across councils of every political persuasion.


Edit - sorry can't work out if the is for the Greens or the comment as a whole denoting it as a sarky swipe at those who believe it.

It's so hard to keep up.

 

[Seasidesage]

Too much stick not enough Carrot. I have just bought myself an electric car but fast charge points are still difficult to access and even electric cars are still cars. Cycle lanes are introduced without much thought as to the consequences or indeed the safety of cyclists. We simply have to provide viable cheap alternatives to cars if we are to persuade people to get out of them.

Just creating gridlock everywhere and hoping everyone starts cycling is not going to cut it. There needs to be a viable alternative no matter how difficult and expensive that is and I do accept that it will be both. Successive administrations not just the Greens have repeatedly ducked this and what we are seeing now is the result. This is a great city, but until the council start treating it as a city and not some glorified experiment this will never be satisfactorily resolved, Some grown up cross party consensus on transport and the willingness of central government to wake up and fund it adequately are desperately needed.

 

[Gwylan]

Some grown up cross party consensus on transport and the willingness of central government to wake up and fund it adequately are desperately needed.

I think there's quite a lot of consensus on transport by all the parties in Brighton: Tories, Labour and Greens have all actively pursued cycle lanes; they've all introduced parking zones and all three parties were in support of Valley Gardens. All three parties would like to introduce park and ride if they knew of a suitable site.

There are differences between them but these are on detail rather than the general policy

 

[jessiejames]

I like it when a waste truck or delivering building merchant‘s truck holds up a last minute charley on the school run. Angry hooting them gets them Jack S*it. Travis Perkins drivers have mentioned that they face all sorts of abuse from school run stressers ... they calmly ignore it.

When this happens to me, for some strange reason it takes me later never to unload.

 

[beorhthelm]

Not really no. Slightly starting to turn the corner a decade after you needed to is not really helping. We need more of a handbrake turn now.

we've just had a stamp on the brakes, seen some of the consequences. having emissions turn downward world wide is a welcome help.

 

[Danny Wilson Said]

Near where I live there will be the Covid-related traffic measures outside a school, and there was a letter sent round explaining that certain parking places will be unavailable as a result. The council didn't seem to realise that these spaces are already being reserved by Network Rail who are doing extensive long-term (and very noisy) work on a railway cutting. So no possibility of traffic chaos there from next week. .

 

[ATFC Seagull]

In Brighton and Hove, if you're going to your local Primary as you should be, then it's walkable for a five year old.

A few people might have reasons for travelling - e.g. a particular faith school (without wanting to open a debate on that) or the bilingual school.

 

[Guinness Boy]

A few people might have reasons for travelling - e.g. a particular faith school (without wanting to open a debate on that) or the bilingual school.

Well now.....

We know quite a few parents with kids at the Bilingual School. I don't know about the covid arrangements but there certainly was bus travel arranged that would have stopped within walking distance of most parents.

As for faith schools it seems that St Mary's Catholic School is not part of the scheme, presumably because Vale Road and Church Road can't just be closed in rush hour. A shame as they seem to have parents who abandon their SUVs anywhere in case little Alfie gets his death of cold.

 

[ATFC Seagull]

Just to say I am guilty of doing the odd drop-off at primary school in the car - and it is not because I am some sort of lazy entitled parent (and it's not an SUV either!). In fact, I cycle into work whenever possible and use public transport nearly all the time - my car will often sit for many days without the engine being started. Some of my colleagues were laughing at me recently as I didn't have the B&H car parking app on my phone - I literally never park my car anywhere in the city apart from my work and outside my house.

However there are days when the Mrs and I both need to be at work for 8am starts. The earliest my son can arrive at breakfast club is 7.45am. The school's within walking distance but my work definitely isn't a 10 min walk/cycle! That said, I don't pull up right outside, there's a good layby that's always empty about 3-4 mins walk from the school gate.

 

[ATFC Seagull]

Well now.....

We know quite a few parents with kids at the Bilingual School. I don't know about the covid arrangements but there certainly was bus travel arranged that would have stopped within walking distance of most parents.

As for faith schools it seems that St Mary's Catholic School is not part of the scheme, presumably because Vale Road and Church Road can't just be closed in rush hour. A shame as they seem to have parents who abandon their SUVs anywhere in case little Alfie gets his death of cold.

Didn't know the bilingual school did that, that's good for a primary school. Anyway I don't disagree that people should be using public transport or walking/cycling to get to school - was just pointing to that not everyone goes to their nearest school and there are reasons why. There are enough Catholic and C of E schools that people should still be able to walk to their nearest one.

As I've put separately above - there is the odd occasion when people might need to get away to their own work after drop-off, which is certainly me from time to time. No excuse for antisocial parking though - I always get there early enough and park properly a little walk away.

 

[Gully Forever]

As usual from the GREEN party, No specific details on the Actual road that will be closing, For instance West Hove Infant - Portland Road
They must obviously mean School Road. They really won't be stupid enough the try and close Portland road, a major Bus route.

 

[Blazing Apostle]

my walk to Kings Manor in the 70s took exactly the amount of time to smoke a Consulate.....

 

[keaton]

As usual from the GREEN party, No specific details on the Actual road that will be closing, For instance West Hove Infant - Portland Road
They must obviously mean School Road. They really won't be stupid enough the try and close Portland road, a major Bus route.

I don't think it's the green councillors picking the roads to close

 

[WilburySeagull]

Well now.....

We know quite a few parents with kids at the Bilingual School. I don't know about the covid arrangements but there certainly was bus travel arranged that would have stopped within walking distance of most parents.

As for faith schools it seems that St Mary's Catholic School is not part of the scheme, presumably because Vale Road and Church Road can't just be closed in rush hour. A shame as they seem to have parents who abandon their SUVs anywhere in case little Alfie gets his death of cold.

The bilingual school has no parking adjacent to the school. It does have some kind of arrangement with Nevill Road Waitrose to allow for drop off in their offroad carpark. Also starting and finishing times are later than the other schools close by ( Hove Park, Blatchington Mill) to minimise congestion. The schools catchment area is citywide so children will travel further than the average primary student.

 

[beorhthelm]

Drop in the ocean. Current measures are like pissing in a volcano.

CO2 emissions down 5% in Q1 2020 (before covid), atmospheric CO2 will be leveling off immediatly. more than a drop in the ocean, cheer up.