Our ask

75% of children walk, cycle, scoot or take public transport to school daily.

Primary public schools have a small catchment, so a high proportion of kids should be able to walk/ scoot/ cycle. For secondary schools the catchment is slightly higher so public transport is a reasonable option.

Our vision 

Children will be safe and healthy and will enjoy more independence to get to school.

Barrier

There are too many cars on the school run. We’re all aware of how much more traffic there is in term time than in school holidays. Many school streets become danger zones during school run hours, with people driving cars clog narrow streets, reversing and even driving on the pavement. This puts families off walking, scooting or cycling to school, and is unpleasant for residents.

​A solution used by more and more councils is “school streets” – create healthy, safe streets around schools so that people choose to walk, cycle, ride, scoot to school. Open the streets around schools to people who walk, ride, scoot and traffic bans on school streets at the start and end of each school day (residents are exempt). The results:

• Cleaner air
• Safety for children
• More families choosing to walk, scoot and cycle to school
• Fewer cars on the school run.

Of course, not all schools or school streets are suitable for this – those on bus routes for instance, or where a high proportion of parents drive and there is nowhere suitable to park nearby. But we think there are plenty of school streets where this could make a radical difference to the health, experience and safety of children.