Same in Vienna. There are no special school buses, kids just use the same buses and trains as everyone else. In more rural areas (such as where I grew up) kids either get the bus or walk/cycle. In fact, I remember walking home from school together with friends as being quite fun (highlight of the day?), with various adventures to be had along the way. And nobody freaked when it took me twice as long to get home as it should have because we found something exciting in a ditch along the way or decided we needed to climb a tree.
I'm pretty sure any incidents would hit the media pretty quickly. That said, driving your kids to school seems to be much more common now than it was 20 years ago.
My girlfriend, who grew up in the UK, was amazed when she first witnessed the kids on public transport, but then the UK is an extreme case of overzealous protection. These days you apparently can't just pick someone else's kids up from school without special paperwork.
Which does not work? I am too lazy to look for sources right now, but wasn't there a research wich found that childern in UK are the most unhappy in the world? Not to mention problems with alcohol and teenage pregnancy.
I guess this kind of protection is like trying to protect someone by not allowing him to walk on his feet. When finally let go he'd just collapse at once.
I've been to Vienna, and the public transportation there is great.
I was 12 when I first went there to visit family, and I went everywhere by myself (not 9 as the original, but still younger than the US parents would like).
As a tourist I found the way that the destinations were announced over speakers extremely useful, and every stop had maps of the public transportation, timetables, etc.
I'd say it's very likely a 9 year old local would have no problem whatsoever, and I wouldn't find it irresponsible (even less so in today's cell phone age).
I'm pretty sure any incidents would hit the media pretty quickly. That said, driving your kids to school seems to be much more common now than it was 20 years ago.
My girlfriend, who grew up in the UK, was amazed when she first witnessed the kids on public transport, but then the UK is an extreme case of overzealous protection. These days you apparently can't just pick someone else's kids up from school without special paperwork.