4 ms·

I don't buy that argument completely. Where I went to school, not so many kids were driven to school by car (and much less drove there themselves) - but during

by wink 10y ago

I don't buy that argument completely. Where I went to school, not so many kids were driven to school by car (and much less drove there themselves) - but during the 6 weeks summer vacation everything was a bit quieter, not only during rush hour. But also most people with kids spent their summer vacation away during that time. And also some amount of people without kids still want to use that time for vacation.

Declanomous 10y ago
I think it's enough data to form an interesting hypothesis, but a lot more data would be needed to support that claim. I've often noticed that my commute is much faster on days without school in Chicago, especially my commute home. I think an equally plausible explanation is that people without kids plan necessarily plan their entire schedule around them. For instance, if there is a school inservice, is traffic better because people aren't taking their kids to school, or is traffic better because people stay home with their children? Another thing is that school holidays tend to be local government holidays as well. The local government is one of the largest employers in almost any jurisdiction. If the kids aren't in school because of a holiday or a severe weather event, there's a pretty good chance employees of the local government are not going in to work, not to mention the fact that the school staff probably are probably also not going to work. The research wouldn't be that hard once you had some data, but of course, gathering data is the hardest part of most research.
emodendroket 10y ago
Even if no parents drove their children anywhere the buses everyone has to stop for are a big disruption.
- Naritai 10y ago
  I don't think the author is asserting it's really driving kids around that causes the traffic. Rather, it's that all parents _need_ to leave their work at (say) 5 in order to get home for their kids.
  - wink 10y ago
    I was not disputing what the author wrote, but what the parent to which I replied posted. In my example, school ended at 1pm or 3 pm, I'd wager not many parents came home, unless they were working part-time or were stay-at-home. I doubt this has changed so much in the last 15 years (since I graduated) although they've switched to 1 year less (so longer lessons) but they're switching back. I simply think that "one American town with ~200k people" is not a very good data point. Also, I have no clue how school in the UK works, maybe people are driving their children to school everyday. :)
  - emodendroket 10y ago
    Fair enough but I think the point about the buses being disruptive all on their own still stands.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]

by wink 10y ago

Declanomous 10y ago

I think it's enough data to form an interesting hypothesis, but a lot more data would be needed to support that claim. I've often noticed that my commute is much faster on days without school in Chicago, especially my commute home. I think an equally plausible explanation is that people without kids plan necessarily plan their entire schedule around them. For instance, if there is a school inservice, is traffic better because people aren't taking their kids to school, or is traffic better because people stay home with their children? Another thing is that school holidays tend to be local government holidays as well. The local government is one of the largest employers in almost any jurisdiction. If the kids aren't in school because of a holiday or a severe weather event, there's a pretty good chance employees of the local government are not going in to work, not to mention the fact that the school staff probably are probably also not going to work. The research wouldn't be that hard once you had some data, but of course, gathering data is the hardest part of most research.

emodendroket 10y ago

Even if no parents drove their children anywhere the buses everyone has to stop for are a big disruption.

Naritai 10y ago
I don't think the author is asserting it's really driving kids around that causes the traffic. Rather, it's that all parents _need_ to leave their work at (say) 5 in order to get home for their kids.
- wink 10y ago
  I was not disputing what the author wrote, but what the parent to which I replied posted. In my example, school ended at 1pm or 3 pm, I'd wager not many parents came home, unless they were working part-time or were stay-at-home. I doubt this has changed so much in the last 15 years (since I graduated) although they've switched to 1 year less (so longer lessons) but they're switching back. I simply think that "one American town with ~200k people" is not a very good data point. Also, I have no clue how school in the UK works, maybe people are driving their children to school everyday. :)
- emodendroket 10y ago
  Fair enough but I think the point about the buses being disruptive all on their own still stands.
deleted 10y ago
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