The London Assembly has slammed Transport for London for making ‘potentially misleading’ claims about the effects of a £34.4M scheme to tackle the school run.
TfL claims the travel plans have resulted in an average reduction in the school run of 5.5%. But the assembly says this was based on a very small sample, and did not take into account other factors which would influence travel choices.
Despite significant TfL funding, just over one in three London primary schools have an approved travel plan, aimed at changing school travel patterns to cut congestion and pollution, and enable more pupils to take regular exercise.
John Biggs, AM, who led the assembly transport committee investigation, said: ‘One in five cars on the road in urban areas at 8:50am is on the school run. ‘The mayor’s commitment that all London schools should have a school travel plan by the end of 2009 is becoming ever-more challenging.’
Reasons given by schools for slow progress in developing their travel plans included ‘initiative overload’, bureaucracy, and an unwillingness to divert resources to the scheme. However, the committee found some examples of where schools had benefited from the initiative.
Mayflower Primary School in Tower Hamlets, for example, appointed a staff member to encourage children to walk to school five years ago. The school has implemented a number of initiatives, including Walking on Wednesday competitions, ‘Walk to school week’ audits, road safety training and junior road safety officers.
Lisa Zychowicz, head teacher at Mayflower, said: ‘We’re also communicating the benefits of walking to school to parents, and have installed shelters and seats in the playground so parents can wait for their children and walk home with them, rather than drive.’ Biggs added: ‘We undertook this investigation because of increasing concerns about the effect of the school run on traffic congestion, pollution and children’s health and development. ‘School travel plans are a key part of the Government’s response to these concerns.’
Register now for full access
Register just once to get unrestricted, real-time coverage of the issues and challenges facing UK transport and highways engineers.
Full website content includes the latest news, exclusive commentary from leading industry figures and detailed topical analysis of the highways, transportation, environment and place-shaping sectors.
Use the link below to register your details for full, free access.
Already a registered? Login
