Americans with small families own a small car or a large one. If both parents are working, they usually have two cars. When the family is large, one of the cars is sold and they will buy a van.

A small car can hold four persons and a large car can hold six persons but it is very crowded. A van hold seven persons easily, so a family with three children could ask their grandparents to go on a holiday travel. They could all travel together.

Mr. Hagen and his wife had a third child last year. This made them sell a second car and buy a van. In the van, the sixth and seventh seat are used to put other things, for a family of five must carry many suitcases when they travel. When they arrive at their grandparents'home, the suitcases are removed from the two seats which can then carry the grandparents.

Americans call vans motor homes. A motor home is always used for holidays. When a family are traveling to the mountain s or to the seaside, they can live in their motor home for a few days or to the seaside, they can live in their motor home for a few days or weeks. All the members of a big family can enjoy a happier life when they are traveling together. That is why motor homes have become very popular. In America there are many parks for motor homes.

The aviation (航空) industry is currently responsible for about 2 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. This figure is set to grow as air travel becomes increasingly popular. However, efforts to reduce the effects of aviation are moving at a very slow pace. Electric and solar-powered airliners are reportedly in development at Wright Electric and Airbus among others, but battery technology still falls behind jet fuels.

The surprising effects of aviation are why a number of people are choosing to quit, or hugely restrict, flying. While “staying grounded”, as activists call it, might not make the biggest difference to your carbon footprint—a study last summer found that cutting meat, eggs and dairy was the best thing people can do for the planet—it can still make a huge difference.

Zoe Hatch, who lives in Maidenhead, stopped flying in 2015 after reading up on climate change. Her husband and their two children, 11 and 15, joined her in a family decision to switch to slow travel. Hatch hasn’t found it inconvenient or expensive, she says. She uses apps to find affordable train tickets. Being connected to continental Europe by the Eurostar train makes it relatively easy to travel abroad without needing to fly.

Steve Melia, Ph.D, an expert in sustainable transportation, stopped flying in 2005. He agrees that individual change, in itself, won’t prevent climate crisis. “The sort of rapid change we need to avoid the collapse of the ecosystem through climate change—that’s not going to come about by people voluntarily choosing to change their behavior,” he added.

Melia adds that it’s important that people who feel the need to quit don’t talk themselves out of it. “If we are going to achieve the sort of rapid change that is necessary, some people have to initiate (倡议) that change, and if all of the people who might be initiating change are themselves flying and convincing themselves that they can’t live without flying, then where’s the initiative for change going to come from?” he asked.

Westbourne House offers a morning school transport service from Monday to Friday.

Routes

Based on the interest received from parents, we are running three minibus routes: Midhurst, Petworth and the Witterings. The interest received for each of these locations was reasonably spread out. We have therefore included pick-up points to accommodate as many families as possible while trying to keep the time of the journey at a reasonable length. The pick-up points along the route are as follows:

Reserve a minibus seat

We still have seats available on each of the routes. Therefore, please complete the minibus reservation form to confirm your place/s. Seats will be available on a “first come first served” basis.

Fees

The minibus service will be offered at a price of £160 per term per child. A 5% discount is offered for a second child of the family.

Additional Information

Age of Children

Children must be at least 5 years old to use the minibus service.

Running Late or Absent

The minibuses are on a strict timetable to arrive at each pick-up spot on time. To ensure the children arrive at school on time, the minibuses will not be able to wait for any late arrivals. If children miss the bus, it is the parents’ responsibility to provide transportation and get them to school. If you know you will not be taking the bus one day, we ask that you please send a text message to your driver.