In the UK, the legislation which entitles people to free school transport was "set" in 1944 and the underlying principles have not changed since. The current rules award free transport to children over 8 who live 3 miles or more from their school. There are a variety of different rules in other European countries. The paper uses original research to consider these rules in the light of contemporary traffic, road and personal safety conditions, including surveys of perceptions and attitudes about what people feel is an acceptable distance for children to walk in 1998. The paper concludes with thoughts on the policy gains which could be achieved by changing the three mile rule both in reducing car use and by introducing young people to the habit of using public transport. Secondly it is argued that "freeing" parents from school escort trips will also enable more work journeys to be made by public transport. Finally, it also suggests that the increased use of public transport for the journey to school need not necessarily imply additional costs to local authorities if a wider range of transport services, including stage carriage services, are considered as well as dedicated school transport.
Samenvatting