This is the update that APEEE sent to the parents regarding transport plan for European school Mamer:

___________________________________________________

Dear parents

This mail is to update you on the progress of the consultation exercise on school transport. By 1.10.2012 the ATSEE/APEEE/Lux.2 secretariats have received some 182 reply forms. We should like to thank you for your active participation and your constructive suggestions. We have now had opportunity to review these to see which we can implement and how best that can be done. You will understand that as the transport network is a collective system and not an à la carte service, we are not necessarily able to take all individual requests into account, but we have done our best in the circumstances. Your recommendations can be grouped into different types, as follows:

1. Comments relating to ATSEE bus timings.
– A number of these were already taken into account in the 24.9.2012 revision to bus timings.
– Further changes will be introduced with effect from 9.10.2012 to allow remaining buses to arrive by 8.30 at school where possible, in particular timings for bus lines 72A, 72B, 73A, 73B, 79, 83 will change.
– Further changes for lines 75, 77, 81 and 84 are also being considered.
Of course, there could still be circumstances (eg. accidents, roadworks, bad weather) which still delay some buses on some days.

2. Comments relating to ATSEE bus stops on existing routes.
– You will understand that diversions are generally only possible where a number of children are concerned, and have always to be balanced against the time impact on the overall route.
a. Line 64: no extension is possible to Pétange, Soleuvre or Rodange. The stop “Findel” will be replaced by “Am Duerf” for safety reasons.
b. Line 72: suppress stops at Rheinsheim+Guillaume
c. Line 73: Possibility of adding “Binnchen” in Beggen will be examined if pupil numbers justify.
d. Line 75: not possible to add stop “Paul Albrecht”.
e. Line 78/79: routing through Helmsange Mairie/Tricentenaire confirmed with bus company and adding stop at Walferdange Mairie.
f. Line 80: new stop added at Schuttrange/Kreizung.
g. Line 81: suggested rerouting through Itzig is not possible.
h. Line 82: will now start from Heffingen instead of Junglinster.
i. Line 64 or Line 72: Possibility to add a stop at Bertrange City Concorde to link with RGTR lines is being examined.
j. Existing stops on various lines in Holzem, Dippach, Garnich, Bettange/Mess, Capellen, Koerich, Olm may be suppressed, as 2 new bus lines will be created to service these areas.

3. Suggestion to add/remove lines.
a. ATSEE lines 52 and 53 to the Luxembourg 1 school will be combined due to low usage. New timing will be published shortly.
b. A new ATSEE bus line will be added around Mamer commune (South), to service Holzem, Dippach, Garnich, Bettange/Mess (not necessarily in that order). Precise itinerary is being determined with bus company.
c. A new ATSEE bus line is also being considered around Mamer commune (North), to service Mamer Route d’Arlon, Capellen, Koerich, Olm (not necessarily in that order). Precise itinerary is being determined with bus company.

In relation to points 1, 2 and 3 an updated combined timetable will be circulated as soon as circumstances allow. In the meantime, updated single line timetables are being distributed in the buses (departures and arrivals)

4. Comments relating to ATSEE pricing.
a. With immediate effect, a 50% discount will be granted to third and subsequent children from same family travelling on ATSEE buses.
b. In response to widespread request, with immediate effect the ATSEE card will grant possibility to use any ATSEE bus line whether to/from Lux.1 or to/from Lux.2 which means parents and pupils can therefore choose the appropriate travel combinations in the morning/end of school throughout the week. Please note that this increased flexibility means that ATSEE will no longer be able to control whether pupils are getting on the correct bus line, or getting off at the correct stops. Parents are therefore urged to educate their children to ensure they take the correct bus and get on/off at the correct stop.
c. There is no combination possibility with the supervised Navette service between EU institution buildings/the European Schools, as that service is explicitly organised as a door-to-door service to ensure safety of youngest children. Separate subscriptions have to be taken out for that service and for the rest of the ATSEE bus service, the combined total cost of which is still covered for EU officials by the education indemnity entitlement.
d. As far we understand, the “Jobkaart” can now be used on RGTR buses, so parents can accompany children first to school, and then travel on to work.
e. ATSEE will not produce books of tickets, given negative experience at Lux.1 school when this experiment was done some years ago (difficult to control).

5. Comments relating to ATSEE navettes.
a. If no monthly subscription is taken out, an individual ticket has to be paid: although the cost may be reimbursed by employers this is not a free-of-charge service.
b. Now that all children have had an opportunity to inscribe, and the secretariat has been able to process the enrolments, a checklist of the pupils travelling on each navette bus will be made available, and the security guard will be keeping a register of the users on each journey.
c. With immediate effect, the Navette at 18h00 will now leave at 18h10 to allow children participating in extracurricular activities to use it.
d. There is no authority to construct bicycle racks on the pavement outside the Lux.1 school so, unfortunately, children cannot cycle there and then take the bus.
e. No stop will be added at “Prince Félix” before leaving Kirchberg in the morning. Parents living there are asked to transport pupils either to EIB, or to Eurostat, or to CDCE, or to European School.
f. No stop will be added at “Glacis” on way to Lux.2 school from Kirchberg in the morning. Parents are asked to transport pupils to LTC and take ATSEE buses, or to Kirchberg/Gasperich/OPOCE to take ATSEE navette.
g. On return journey, no stop will be added at EIB unless EIB authorises waiting area within the building. Similarly, no stop will be added at ECJ unless ECJ authorises waiting area within the building and bus access on the parvis.
h. On return journey, no stop will be added at ESTAT unless ESTAT authorises waiting area within the building, or parents arrange a waiting area inside Auchan gallery. The morning navette from ESTAT will move from no.18 bus stop Rue Alphonse Weicker (in front of Auchan) to Rue Carlo Hemmer (between Auchan and Foire d’Expositions) for safety reasons (blockage no.18 bus, car overtaking, pedestrians).
i. A return navette to OPOCE and Goldbell may be organised if child numbers are confirmed, responsibility for costs are clarified and waiting area inside building is authorised. Morning navettes from Goldbell and OPOCE will be combined, due to low pupil numbers.

New timing for navettes will be published shortly.

6. Comments relating to supervision
a. There are no bus shelters at Lux.2 school platforms. This will be discussed with Luxembourg authorities.
b. Numbering of platforms at Lux.2 school has been made easier for pupils to understand (colour coding).
c. There will be no adult supervisor on ATSEE buses, only on the ATSEE navette service. Older pupils who travel some/all of the journey on ATSEE buses will continue to help the driver monitor younger children, but they are students not adults, and cannot be held responsible for the safety of the young ones.
d. Parents are not allowed on the ATSEE navettes, or on the ATSEE buses. This was only allowed on the first day of the school year so that parents could see how the system worked.
e. 30 minute waiting time after arrival at Lux.1 school will not be extended. However a new system will be applied so that parents waiting at the bus stop will be able to collect children directly from the security guard at the door to the bus (the children will be kept on the bus during this time).
f. Children in CPE who want to take the 16h45 navette are now collected from the CPE and accompanied to the bus.
g. Children attending periscolaire programme whose course finishes between 16h15 and 16h30, and who are in the designated waiting area at the Primary Building, will be accompanied out to the 16h45 navette. The same applies for pupils whose periscolaire course finishes between 17h45 and 18h00 who want to take the 18h10 navette.
h. FAPEEEL will look into the possibility of a supervisor for transfers between CPE and periscolaire activities, for the youngest children, potentially allowing more children to use the periscolaire programme and catch the navettes.

7. Communication
a. Parents are asked to recognise that ATSEE and APEEE persons involved in the mobility plan are volunteers who undertake this task on top of busy work and private lives in the best interest of the children and the good functioning of the schools and the EU institutions in Luxembourg. They are not always able to respond immediately to queries.
b. ATSEE website and APEEE websites will be updated with the latest user guidelines when resources permit. These will be translated into French.

8. Comments relating to public buses and communal buses
a. Luxembourg authorities will again be asked to ensure that RGTR bus lines are extended onto the school site, as originally agreed.
b. Luxembourg authorities will also be asked about possibility for VdL lines 6 and 7 to be extended onto the school site.

9. Comments relating to cars
a. The expected date for Flyover to be finished is between January and March 2013.
b. To build additional car parking space at the Lux.2 school, either at ground level or multi-storey parking, will require planning permission.
c. Parents are urged to recognise that the school car park is not a long stay P+R service for the no.8 bus or other services. Use of the limited spaces in this way blocks the intended use for temporary visitors, in particular the “kiss and go” zones.
d. Parents are urged not to park in the secondary “kiss and go” zone if they are taking children into the nursery school. There is a specific nursery school parking area.

10. Comments relating to bicycles and pedestrians
a. There are no resources to put a pedestrian crossing guard on every zebra crossing inside the school campus, or on the crossings near the roundabouts. Security guards do however supervise children near the bus platforms.
b. Bertrange commune is gradually putting in place its own Vel-OH bicycle hire concept (different to the VdL one which extends up to Strassen). A stop is eventually anticipated near the school.
c. Bertrange commune is gradually improving bicycle paths in the commune, including those near to the school.
d. Vélobus and Pédibus initiatives require volunteers to be found who are available every day during termtime. Potential volunteers for, and residents who want to use, such schemes to the Lux.2 school from Strassen, Bertrange or Mamer should contact Strassen Commune, Bertrange Commune or Mamer Commune directly.

11. Comments relating to trains
a. Some 100 pupils from Lux.2 school secondary cycle currently use the train.
b. The train is not considered suitable for younger children unless their parents are also present.
c. It is unlikely to be possible to increase the frequency of trains in the morning, or to change the timings in the morning (there is an InterCity train which leaves Lux.Gare at 8.20). This possibility will nevertheless be checked with the Luxembourg authorities.
d. After the end of school it is not possible for the school to leave the gate nearest the train station open for parents to come and collect pupils from CPE as there is no budget for a security guard to monitor persons entering and leaving.