School bus charges may cause chaos

The school run could get worse if the Government charges middle-class children to use dedicated bus services, MPs warned today.

They said one fifth of early morning and mid-afternoon traffic is generated by parents driving children to school, creating congestion of "critical proportions" in London.

Ministers plan to allow councils to charge better-off parents for bus services - currently free for all families more than three miles from school - and to use the extra revenue to lay on more buses.

But MPs on the Commons education select committee warn there is a "serious question mark" over the assumption that this would attract more pupils onto school buses.

The select committee added: "If schemes drive children away from shared transport by pitching charges too high, the use of private cars will increase."

Councils are already cutting back on school bus routes because of the mounting costs. The MPs say any extra revenue may simply allow these old routes to be re-created.