ROAD SAFETY AND SCHOOL TRAVEL ISSUES

The National Road Safety Strategy identified that well over 1/3 of primary school pupils and 1/5 of secondary school pupils now travel to school by car. This increasing car dependence is a cause for concern since it reduces children’s opportunities to learn risk assessment and safe behaviour on the road.

The Local Transport Plan guidance (DETR, 2000) states that Local Authorities should "set out an integrated strategy for reducing car use and improving children’s safety on the journey to school, taking account of the health and education impacts". LARSOA and the Local Authority School Travel Forum, recognise that concern about risk of accidents, abduction or assault is a major deterrent to using environmentally friendly alternatives to the car. By encouraging shifts in transport mode, such as cycling or walking (which have higher accident risks) without investing in measures to make these safer, there may be an increased risk for walkers or cyclists.

The School Travel Advisory Group (STAG) established in 1998 – to bring together experts in education, road safety, child health and accident prevention as well as transport co-ordination, recommended that we should aim by 2010 to return to the level of walking, cycling and bus use of the mid 1980’s. To facilitate this DTLR provided funding in January 2001 for School Travel Plan co-ordinators (three-year fixed-term bursary posts). The rapid expansion of work on school travel issues across the country (including those authorities not currently subscribed to TravelWise) led to the need for a body to provide a professional and sustainable focus for school travel planning. The Local Authority School Travel Forum was established to co-ordinate and publicise expertise, knowledge and experience for school travel practitioners.

Both LARSOA and the Local Authority School Travel Forum recognises that there is a major role for Road Safety Officers to use their experience and skills to ensure that safety and accident reduction remain high on the agenda, whilst encouraging and supporting more sustainable school travel.

THE ROLE OF THE RSO
• At the strategic level, contribute to the development of local plans and strategies for school travel

• To make links with the school travel practitioner to ensure that road safety ETP has a prominent place within the authority’s school travel strategy

• To make appropriate bids for funding within the LTP where road safety is to support school travel issues

• To recognise the importance of school travel plans (STPs) as documents that should incorporate a road safety policy and where appropriate, support the implementation of STPs

• To identify and support relevant and specific ETP measures within the development of individual STPs

• To adhere to existing and future good / best practice guidelines (i.e. For walking buses and STPs)

• To facilitate pedestrian and cyclist training schemes for schools

• To assist in the development of innovative measures and approaches to tackle school travel issues

• To ensure that safety issues are incorporated and given high priority within the audit of relevant measures (including bus issues and safe walking routes)

• To support the introduction of local schemes with appropriate information, education and training

• To build, maintain and enhance relationships with colleagues in education, including school governors to facilitate the inclusion of road safety education and training within the school curriculum

• To build, maintain and enhance relationships with partner organisations including external stakeholders to make best use of available resources when tackling school travel issues

• To use publicity experience to help develop school travel campaign strategies and programmes

THE ROLE OF THE SCHOOL TRAVEL PROFESSIONAL
• At the strategic level, include the RSO in the development of local plans and strategies for school travel

• To make links with the RSO to ensure that road safety ETP has a prominent place within the authority’s school travel strategy

• To support appropriate bids for funding within the LTP where road safety is to support school travel issues

• To recognise the importance of School Travel Plans (STPs) as documents that should incorporate a road safety policy and where appropriate, enable the RSO to support the implementation of STPs

• To identify and support relevant and specific ETP measures within the development of individual STPs

• To adhere to existing and future good / best practice guidelines (i.e. For walking buses and STPs)

• To work with RSOs to facilitate pedestrian and cyclist training schemes for schools

• To work with partners to develop innovative measures and approaches to tackle school travel issues

• To ensure that safety issues are incorporated and given high priority within the audit of relevant measures (including bus issues and safe walking routes)

• To work with RSOs to support the introduction of local schemes with appropriate information, education and training

• To build, maintain and enhance relationships with colleagues in Education, including School Governors to facilitate the development of STPs and School Travel Initiatives

• To build, maintain and enhance relationships with partner organisations including external stakeholders to make best use of available resources when tackling school travel issues

MONITORING AND EVALUATION
The Local Transport Plan guidance states "authorities should include separate targets for modal shift in school journeys and plans for monitoring progress". To achieve this, Local Authorities need to show evidence of appropriate targets and suitable monitoring arrangements. In most cases this will involve (at a minimum) the collection of base line data on school travel patterns against which changes in behaviour can be monitored over a number of years.

The effectiveness of School Travel Strategies will not only be determined by DTLR, but may also be monitored through Local Performance Plans. Both the RSO and the school travel professional have a central role in ensuring that best use is made of existing resources and to prevent duplication of effort on school travel issues under the current Best Value regime.