Travelling to school without a car
A new five-year plan looking at how to get children to school in a greener way has today won the support of Warwickshire County Council’s Cabinet.
20 years ago seven in ten children were walking or cycling to school, now it’s one in ten.
In this time asthma and childhood obesity has increased and Warwickshire County Council is pulling together many different initiatives within the five-year plan to get children to school in a healthier and more sustainable way.
The Sustainable School Travel Strategy 2007-2012 was today supported by the members of the county council’s Cabinet, and includes a number of measures to tackle the ‘school run’ congestion issues.
Cllr Martin Heatley, the county council’s Portfolio Holder for the Environment, said: “Whether it’s school walking buses, safer routes to schools projects or school transport, the strategy aims to bring all of these things under one umbrella.
“We are all aware of the problems of the school run. One in four cars on our roads in the mornings during term time are on the school run, causing congestion and pollution in our towns and villages. The strategy has clear objectives about how to take things forward.”
Objectives of the strategy include:
- Providing information on all travel to school schemes currently available;
- Identifying areas to improve the travel options available to children and young people;
- Reducing the number of cars used for education purposes;
- And publicising the benefits of alternative travel.