Focus of work
Currently, hundreds of thousands of children cycle and walk to school in a toxic landscape congested with cars, as their journeys coincide with a surge in school-run traffic. Data from Solve the School Run shows that in London, 200,000 primary pupils (25%) are driven to school, with 40,000 driven under a mile (5%) and 160,000 driven over a mile (20%). This illustrates that different distances to school require different sustainable solutions, and that an integrated approach is needed.
As part of this project funded by FIT, Solve the School Run engaged with councillors, community groups and parents in London to outline the issues and identify potential solutions to reducing the number of school run car journeys.
Impact
Activities and achievements as part of this project include:
- Delivered over 14 webinars and in-person meetings with parents, community groups, local ward councillors, active travel campaigners and council officers.
- Developed resources for council officers.
- Developed resources for campaigners.
Impacts from these activities included:
- Increased awareness and understanding across participating London authorities and parent and active travel communities.
- Positive feedback from Hackney council officers to North London parents campaigning for the 603 bus route.
- Will Norman, London’s Walking & Cycling commissioner regularly cites Solve the School Run’s statistic that the school run causes 480,000 car trips per day to justify the need for action from TFL and local authorities on safe walking and cycling.
- Built Solve the School Run’s understanding of how to activate and support campaigners and authorities around the school run, including the most powerful ways for them to use the school travel data insights.
- 87.5% of participants surveyed reported they feel confident using their school travel data to advocate for sustainable alternatives to car trips.
- There was a 37% increase in the use of the resources available on the Solve the School Run website.
- Increased media coverage on school run travel in London-based media.