EIGHTY per cent of Mole Valley people believe Surrey County Council should do more to encourage parents in rural areas to quit using their cars for the school run.
In a survey carried out by local Liberal Democrats in nine villages around Dorking, more than 400 of 500 people quizzed agreed schools should be given greater incentives to provide dedicated bus services. Almost as many also said more should be done to encourage pupils to walk or cycle.
Mike Ward, who will stand for the Lib Dems in the county council election in May, said the poll showed people were dissatisfied with the "very restrictive attitude" the council's ruling Conservative group had towards school transportation.
Mr Ward, who lives in South Holmwood, said: "They do the absolute minimum that is required by the law; that is our interpretation of how they do school transport.
"They don't appear to be looking at the wider benefits to the community. They're just looking at the narrow issue of how much it costs the county council."
Mr Ward said schools should analyse pupils' journeys with a view to trialling walking and cycling schemes and subsidised bus routes to reduce congestion, pollution and parking.
Conservative county councillor Helyn Clack responded: "The council already subsidises school transport to the tune of millions of pounds. All schools have worked with the council to provide transport plans which include walking buses, shared transport and subsidised buses."
Mrs Clack said schools should not be expected to add the operation of bus services to their responsibilities.
She added: "We had a subsidised school transport service called Pegasus which was well-loved but the subsidy was enormous; hundreds of pounds of taxpayers' money per child per year."
The Advertiser asked readers what they thought about this issue.
Tim Wilson of Parkway, Dorking, said: "Walking to school would be a lot safer if Surrey County Council reinstated crossing patrols, eg on Chalkpit Lane."
Roy McNeill added: "It's not just the school kids who should be encouraged to cycle but adults as well. We need safe cycle lanes for everybody."
The survey was carried out in Brockham, Betchworth, Buckland, Capel, Leigh, Newdigate, Beare Green, Ockley and Charlwood between May and November 2012.
