Travel planning for schools
The school run is the cause of the most congestion and frustration for many people. In the last ten years the number of pupils travelling to school by car has nearly doubled. At 8.45 in the morning the roads around the school gates are thick with traffic. Parents drop off children anywhere they can including on the "keep clear zigzags". Children run out between the cars to cross the road. It is only for about 12 minutes but it is a very hectic unsafe time. If this sounds like your school, then a school travel plan could help.
All schools in Bolton want to encourage more pupils to walk, cycle and use public transport and decrease the number of cars on the school run.
- Fewer cars outside schools can make the area safer for pupils
- Road safety skills can be practised by pupils who walk and cycle.
- Regular walking or cycling can improve the health and fitness of your child and YOU….
- Less cars reduces CO2 emissions and pollution
- Walking to school is sociable for both parents and pupils
- More pollution is breathed in by people in cars than pedestrians
Many children live close enough to school to walk. Many older children would like to cycle to school, but are worried about safety, or their school may lack secure cycle storage facilities. Other pupils would prefer to travel by bus, but there may not be a service available at the right time. If one is available it may be too expensive, particularly for families with two or more children. Some children may feel intimidated by bullying or other anti-social behaviour encountered while travelling alone between home and school.
What is a School Travel Plan?
School Travel Plans are a joint initiative backed by the Department for Education and Skills and the Department for Transport. Government funding is available through Bolton Council specifically to help schools achieve their School Travel Plan objectives and targets, including Capital Grants of approximately £5,000 per primary school and £10,000 for a secondary school (depending on size) to purchase items with which to support and maintain sustainable travel to school such as secure cycle shelters, parent waiting facilities or new gates and footpaths.
All schools are required to have a School Travel Plan in place by 2010 and most schools in Bolton either have one or are working on it. It is a document produced by pupils, parents, school staff and governors, in partnership with the local community and Bolton Council, to manage each school’s methods and resources for getting children to and from school safely.
A School Travel Plan is needed to:
- Reduce the number of cars on the school run every morning
- Encourage more sustainable modes of travel to school such as walking, cycling and public transport
- Enable any engineering measures such as path resurfacing, pedestrian barriers, new school entrances.
- Facilitate realistic and achievable improvements in children’s health and safety, education, school environment and assist in combating social exclusion.
Primary schools may start a number of initiatives like "Walk on Wednesdays" (WOW), a walking bus, a no parking Green Zone outside the school, a staff car sharing scheme, a cycling to school day or ask a local supermarket if their parents can “Park and Stride” from there every day. Secondary schools actively encourage pupils to walk, cycle, use public transport and organise school buses and spread the environmental message to their staff and pupils.
Ask your school if they have a travel plan – if they don’t – get involved! What can you do?