Report calls for car exclusion zones to curb school run

15 August 2007

Car exclusion zones should be set up around schools to help encourage walking and cycling, according to a new report.

The Institute for European Environmental Policy has called for urgent action to reduce car use, especially over short journeys such as the school run. Highlighting the impact of car use on carbon dioxide emissions and obesity, the report revealed that 11M tonnes of CO₂ could be saved every year, if all drivers were to walk an extra hour a week.

The IEEP acknowledges the effort being made through school travel plans to replace the school run, but says more could be done such as ‘setting exclusion zones around schools and enhancing incentives to walk’. The report found that parents drove 82 miles for the school run in 2005, compared with 55 miles in 1989.

It also backs the shared space principle championed in the Department for Transport’s Manual for Streets to encourage more walking and cycling.

Around 40% of all journeys in the UK are under two miles in length, and 38% of these are undertaken by car. Carolina Valsecchi, of the IEEP, said: ‘Our research demonstrates that something as simple as walking short trips now made by car would make an important contribution to tackling obesity and climate change.’

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Report calls for car exclusion zones to curb school run

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