We take this opportunity to look at some of the best School Streets initiatives around that ensure that these journeys are not only active and healthier but safer and have long term benefit not only to the pupils but also the community and beyond.
Here we ask Liz Holloway, Senior Transport Planning Officer of Devon County Council the key questions that you need answered.
Liz is also a member of CIHT and is a Chartered Transport Planning Professional via CIHT.
Join other savvy professionals just like you at CIHT. We are committed to fulfilling your professional development needs throughout your career
The school streets initiative encourages more walking and cycling and helps improve air quality near schools. Excluding vehicles on streets outside schools creates extra space for pedestrians and this has been particularly important during periods of Covid distancing.
The first three of our Devon School Streets have been in a trial phase for almost a whole academic year under a Temporary Traffic Regulation Order (TTRO). We have recently secured TROs for each of these.
During the Spring term, we carried out a public consultation to find out what parents, residents and school staff thought of the school streets. Results showed that out of 287 respondents across three schools, 86% wanted the school streets to be made permanent. Compared to other transport schemes this was a higher than normal approval rating. Perceived benefits include a sense of greater personal safety, more room for social distancing and less congestion with fewer cars on the road. Questions about the way people travelled before and after adoption of the school street scheme suggested a 20% reduction in car use for school journeys and an 18% increase in active travel modes.
Notable feedback included
Devon Schools Streets are school and community led, and we have a very supportive team of Road Safety Officers, Sustrans Officers and transport, policy and engineering colleagues providing background support.
We ensured that before trials started, each school was provided a toolkit, consisting of barriers, cones, high viz, and a scheme design, a clear step by step guide and instructional video which outline the system and show how to safely open and close the road, operate equipment (barriers, cones, temporary signage etc.). Schools were also issued a memorandum of understanding which defines the responsibilities of each party.
The policy team managed the administrative side such as TROs and prohibition of driving orders for each street, together with a list of exemptions/permits in order to minimise impact on neighbouring residents. The engineering team provided designs for the layout of street closure points tailored specifically for each school.
Public consultation midway through the school year provided the evidence we needed to progress the schemes into final design stage and TRO application.
The physical street closure is extremely effective in conveying the message that children and parents should try to walk or cycle to school where practical. While there will always be some parents who try to park or drop off as close as they can to the school entrance, we have found through surveys that the school streets are encouraging more parents to consider active travel options.
School streets are even more successful when schools adopt extra initiatives as part of their travel plan. These include promotion of ‘walking maps’, ‘walking buses’ or hosting events such as active travel incentive days. These initiatives encourage the success of the school street and inform longer term behavioural change.
School Streets are relatively simple, low cost solutions compared to other road schemes. They are successful in encouraging people to walk and cycle more which helps tackle congestion, reduces carbon emissions and improves health – all key parts of objectives set in updates to Devon County Council’s Transport Infrastructure Plan (TIP) and Local Transport Plan (LTP3).
At local level, the Exeter Transport Plan aims to encourage 50% of Exeter’s population to walk or cycle to work and school by 2030. Getting more people physically active is a key target of the Sport England Delivery Pilot and the School Street initiative is one of a number of local initiatives
School Streets involve the collaboration of a number of parties, primarily school staff and the school leadership team. We have so far only worked with schools with existing concerns about anti-social parking near school gates. It is essential to have local support politically and a team of transport/ highway colleagues who are willing to explore new highway designs. We also rely on the goodwill and cooperation of parents and local residents.
The timing of School Streets is crucial. As these are our first school streets, we set long experimental phases, lasting nearly one academic year. These have been very resource intensive, mainly for the schools involved who’ve needed to recruit volunteers, nominate staff or pay sports premium coordinators to staff closure points. Our final designs do not need to be staffed, although we are looking at different ways to enforce closures with the help of Devon and Cornwall Police.
Key learnings are that once school streets are up and running, the benefits are immediately noticeable and with good local support they are very empowering for communities
Hopefully through school streets, people will be able to reimagine their streets and perhaps consider their journeys as opportunities for exercise and social interaction rather than difficult and time consuming tasks.
We continue to fine tune and simplify the formula for school streets so we can roll the scheme out in more areas.
To successfully change the way people travel, not just to schools, we need to look closely at how modern roads are being used and how attitudes to transport have changed. People are increasingly concerned about health and quality of life, with many starting to challenge traditional notions of vehicles having priority over people.
Well designed spaces that give priority to people, rather than vehicular through traffic, are fundamental to support and promote active travel. This can be achieved by taking a people centric approach that puts the needs of pedestrians and cyclists first. Effective signage and good connectivity for those on foot or bike is essential when providing good travel choices. High quality materials need to be used and costs need to be considered in terms of long term gain, rather than simply opting for cheaper short term fixes. Funding needs to reflect this.
From planning and design, to top level decision making, vision and bold decisions are needed in order to create healthy and attractive towns and cities that work for everyone.
Liz Holloway, Senior Transport Planning Officer of Devon County Council
Liz is also a member of CIHT and is a Chartered Transport Planning Professional via CIHT.
Discover other responses from the leading professionals at the frontline.
>>> Visit the CIHT Walk to School - School Streets Spotlight
Join thousands of other professionals just like you who are getting ahead with CIHT membership.
Discover why the leaders and future leaders of the sector are members with CIHT.
>>> Find the right membership for you
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the CIHT or its members. Neither the CIHT nor any person acting on their behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Join other savvy professionals just like you at CIHT. We are committed to fulfilling your professional development needs throughout your career
