National transport charity Sustrans on developing a school travel plan

With climate change and children’s health at the top of the agenda, encouraging young people to walk and cycle to school can be a great way to reduce ‘school run’ congestion as well as helping to introduce physical activity into their daily routine. In fact the benefits of walking and cycling are far reaching for schools, pupils, parents, the local community, and for the environment as a whole. However, for many schools, encouraging an active journey to school can seem like a lot of time, effort and money. But with funding, support and advice available some simple steps can be taken to get your school in gear.

With over 10 years experience working with teachers, parents and young people as part of its successful Safe Routes to Schools project, leading sustainable transport charity, Sustrans explains what it’s all about.

Safe Routes to Schools initiatives aim to improve children's health and development, improve road safety, reduce child casualties, as well as reducing traffic congestion and pollution. Successful projects encourage and enable children and parents to find alternatives to the car when looking for ways of getting to school, through a combined package of practical and educational measures. They involve the whole school community: local residents, local authorities, health and education workers, and the police.
Each school is different, with its own local problems and possible solutions. Developing a School Travel Plan can help ensure the complete situation is considered and that appropriate action is taken. Find out more about Sustrans, School Travel Plans and Safe Routes to schools by reading our policy document.

What do the Safe Routes to Schools team do?

Sustrans runs a national Safe Routes to Schools information service, aimed at schools, parents, pupils, Local Authorities and all those who are interested in Safe Routes to Schools Projects. We provide training, videos, newsletters, factsheets, teachers packs, resources, advice and networking opportunities as well as holding national and regional events and conferences. Additionally we work closely with policy makers and the media to raise the profile of school travel issues and the commitment to make a safe journey to school for every child in the UK.

What is Safe Routes to Schools?

Safe Routes to Schools projects encourage and enable children to walk and cycle to school through a combined package of practical and educational measures.

The Safe Routes to Schools projects also:

• improve road safety and reduce child casualties
• improve children's health and development
• reduce traffic congestion and pollution

Safe Routes to Schools projects involve:

• the whole school community
• local residents
• local authorities
• health and education workers
• police

Successful Safe Routes projects are child-centred, build on small steps to raise awareness and change travel behaviour and benefit the whole local community by helping to create safer, more healthy environments.

A whole host of initiatives can be implemented to benefit the local area by helping to create safer, healthier environments. A child-centred approach is important, building on small steps to raise awareness and change travel behaviour. And there are plenty of options available that don’t cost large sums of money but still have a real impact. Here are some of the most well used and successful ideas:

School Travel Plans

A School Travel Plan (STP) is a process and a developing document which aims to reduce car use for the school journey, enable cycling and walking, and address issues such as safety. Producing one will bring many benefits including funding for initiatives and will also demonstrate to inspectors the schools commitment to environmental and community concerns. In many cases funding for safe routes measures is only available to schools with a travel plan.

Governments across the UK are committed to reducing car use for the school journey and promote the use of school travel plans as a tool for achieving this. And there are other funding opportunities available, for example, local businesses could sponsor tabards. Local Transport Plan England also allocates money for safe routes to schools.

Funding to support safe routes initiatives vary from country to country with each having its own programme and approach.

Incentives

Car-free days, walk to school weeks, and bike to school days are great ways of launching a school travel initiative. These themed activities are often successful in converting large proportions of pupils from car use to walking and cycling. Maintaining momentum after these events can be difficult but incentives can help; for instance offering awards or raffle prizes sponsored by a local bike shop for the pupil who walks or cycles the most. Regular events like a ‘Walk on Wednesdays’ or ‘Wheely Wednesdays’ are good ways of getting commitment to walking or cycling just once a week; starting small and getting bigger.

Walking buses and cycle trains

Walking buses have been a huge success in primary schools. A walking bus follows a planned route with designated stops on route. An adult ‘driver’ leads the way supported by other adult volunteers, often parents, along the length of the walking bus. Children benefit from a safe walk to school, while parents, by taking turns, get days off from accompanying their children to school. Cycle-trains, a similar concept but with bikes, are also becoming increasingly popular.

Park & Stride

Often introduced in rural areas, park & stride schemes can be a good solution for families who live too far to walk or cycle, or when a busy road separates them from the school. Although some children do need to be driven at least some of the way to school, there are alternatives to being driven from front door to school gate. There may be places to park 5 or 10 minutes walk from the school: a shop or community hall, for example. By asking permission to park or drop off at ‘school run’ times, congestion at the school gate, and journey times can be reduced. Walking some of the way also gives the child a chance of a little activity and teaches vital pedestrian skills. Some schools have introduced 5-minute walk zones around the schools encouraging more parents to park outside the designated zone and walk in.

Fulfilling National Curriculum Requirements

School travel can be used as a topic to deliver the English, Welsh and Scottish National Curricula as well as the Curriculum Cymraig. The topic can be applied in all areas including Citizenship, English, Maths and Geography. Sustrans produces a Teachers' Resource Pack (Primary and Secondary) which identifies specific activities related to the programmes of study in most subjects.

Bike It

Sustrans also runs a project called Bike It, encouraging children in almost 200 selected schools across England to cycle to school more often. Last year the project achieved average cycling levels of 10% in participating schools compared to a national average of less than 2%. Bike It is showing that with time and encouragement it is possible to get young people to take to two wheels and enjoy a green, healthy and independent way of getting around. If you would like to find out more about Bike It and how your school could get involved visit www.sustrans.org.uk it is possible to get young people to take to two wheels and enjoy a green, healthy and independent way of getting around.
it is possible to get young people to take to two wheels and enjoy a green, healthy and independent way of getting around.

The new Safe Routes to School website has practical information on how to encourage both walking and cycling to school.
Sustrans’ Safe Routes to School website is full of practical information to encourage both walking and cycling to school. With resources available to download and case study examples of schools with successful travel initiatives it’s the one-stop-shop for information on walking and cycling to school. www.saferoutestoschools.org.uk

Accessing funding for Safe Routes to Schools

England

As part of the Department for Transport and Department for Education and Skills joint School Travel Initiative, launched in 2003, capital grants are available to schools developing a School Travel Plan. The one-off awards are given once a year to state schools who develop a STP that meets given criteria and are signed off by the local authority. Grants are based on the size of the school, £10,000 for an average secondary and £5,000 for an average primary. Grants can only be spent on on-site capital projects; popular things include cycling parking, parent waiting shelters, CCTV, playground markings to practice road safety. Schools are supported in the development of their STPs by School Travel Advisors based in each local authority.

The Department for Transport and DfES have announced a new scheme to provide grants of £1,000 a year for 3 years to state-funded primary schools in England who want to set up walking buses. Smaller grants (£500 a year) are available as an alternative to support other school-based initiatives, for example Walk on Wednesday or Go for Gold , to increase walking to and from school.

Wales

The Welsh Assembly Government’s Transport Grant funds safe routes to schools measures, selected from schemes put forwarded by the local authorities. For a school to be in with a chance of receiving an award they must first complete a School Travel Plan which if considered worthy will be forwarded by the local authority for the annual assessment. Highways measures, traffic calming, cycle parking and even tumble dryers to dry children’s clothes on a rainy day are some of the things the grant has funded. Since the schemes conception five years ago £18million has been awarded from the Transport Grant. Safe Routes to Schools Officers, based in local authorities, support schools in the development of their STPs.

Scotland

The Scottish Executive has made money available to support and increase walking and cycling to school. Funding is available from local authorities for cycling, walking and safer streets, including safe routes to schools measures. Schools receive support locally from School Travel Co-ordinators based in each local authority.

Northern Ireland

Schools participating in the Department for Regional Development’s Accelerated Safe Routes to Schools programme benefit from infrastructure improvements, such as road crossings, and appropriate measures within the school grounds, such as cycle parking, to promote and enable sustainable travel for the school run. The scheme is in its first year and limited to 50 schools. Schools may also participate in the enhanced programme, which sees support provided to schools in the development of a school travel plan.

Further information

School Travel Advisors / co-ordinators across Wales, Scotland and England support schools in the development of school travel plans. Sustrans can provide contact details for local officers, contact us on 0117 915 0100 or email schools@sustrans.org.uk