Focus of work
The school run makes up over 25% of all London morning rush hour car journeys. Most of these journeys happen within the same 45-minute window, which creates congestion and pollution. But not every school is equal when it comes to driving rates; the further away pupils live from their school, the higher the propensity they are to be driven because these journeys are harder to make by active travel or public transport. Therefore, non-catchment schools (often private schools or faith schools), where pupils don’t live close to their school, have the highest driving rates.
This project from Scoot, now called Solve the School Run, undertook a range of activities, including:
- Modelling data to provide insight into the London school run, including how far pupils are having to travel to school, how they are making these trips and then identifying school and school types with the highest driving rates.
- Researching and promoting sustainable travel solutions for longer school runs including cargo bikes and electric school mini-buses.
Impact
Solve the School Run found that:
- 200,000 primary school pupils in London travel to school by car – resulting in almost 500,000 car trips each day
- Around 75% of the 200,000 pupils travel over 1 mile.
Key achievements:
- Data shared online and with parents, campaigners, councillors, schools
- Community groups such as Mums for Lungs, and Living Streets have previewed the data and found it helpful
- Greatest Hits Radio London, London World, Transport Xtra, Air Quality News covered the campaign
- Promoted a journey-sharing app to Dulwich College and Judith Kerr Primary School
- Campaigned for a school street in Dulwich Wood Ward
- Highlighted how cargo bikes can help (also funded by Dulwich Council).