School Travel Plans

We all know that it’s good for our children to walk to school and there are too many cars on the roads. To increase walking and cycling to school and to make these journeys safer, many schools with the help of their local authority, draw up their own School Travel Plan which includes a list of actions.

Walking Buses, Park and Stride schemes, cycle training, high vis school uniform are all actions you may consider including in your School Travel Plan.

The government target is for all schools to have a School Travel Plan in place by 2010. Local authorities across the UK are working hard to help schools to make this happen.

There’s a nice yummy carrot for state schools in England who get their School Travel Plan approved by their local authority; a capital grant which can be used to buy things related to your School Travel Plan, such as lockers, bike racks or parent-waiting shelters. (In addition many English primary schools can apply for government funding for high vis and other walk to school promotional items).

You may also benefit from engineering work to make the routes to your school safer if you have a School Travel Plan.

For more information on School Travel Plans contact your local authority School Travel Advisor (or Road Safety Officer). Also see our guide How to Get More Kids Walking to School and our school travel plan intro pack

See the publication ‘Travelling to School: An Action Plan’ and www.teachernet.gov.uk for government information on School Travel Plans.

There are lots more good ideas for School Travel Plans at www.saferoutestoschools.org.uk which is published by Sustrans, the charity for sustainable transport.