School travel plans

A school travel plan provides a school community with a package of practical actions to improve road safety, reduce car trips to school, and encourage students to use more sustainable modes of transport such as walking, cycling, buses and trains.

Most school travel plans are developed and written by a local council staff member (eg a road safety coordinator or school travel plan coordinator) in close consultation with the school community.

Land Transport New Zealand has developed a School travel plan coordinator’s guide to help coordinators and schools. It outlines the responsibilities of the school travel plan coordinator and provides useful resources such as an example newsletter, sample implementation strategies and a project timeline. There’s also detailed information about each of the five phases (set-up, data collection, action-planning, implementation and monitoring) of the plan.

You can either download the School travel plan coordinator’s guide or ask a travel behaviour change facilitator at your nearest Land Transport New Zealand regional office for a copy.

A positive experience
‘The congestion at the school gate was pretty heavy – sometimes quite horrific – so that spurred us on to look at other ways of getting children to and from school,’ says Catherine Macleod, principal of Avondale Primary School in Auckland.

‘Introducing a school travel plan has been very positive and has made the school gate a much safer place. Walking is something most of us can do and now, a lot of parents are walking with their children to school instead of driving. That obviously has health benefits as well.’

The benefits of a school travel plan

Schools become involved in school travel plans to:

address concerns about road traffic danger for children on their way to and from school
encourage children to be more physically active by walking or cycling to school
reduce the number of cars at the school gate and therefore address issues of road safety
reduce pollution, enhance air quality and save energy within the local environment.

Practical actions implemented as a result of the plan may include:

road safety education
cycling education
community participation in walking school buses, Walking Wednesdays or car pooling
improvements to pedestrian facilities such as crossings and footpaths
traffic calming measures such as speed and parking restrictions
the provision of cycleways
promotional activities encouraging car pooling, walking, cycling and public transport.

How can I start a school travel plan?

School travel plans are developed and implemented by the whole school community in partnership with the local council.

Typically, a school travel plan coordinator from the council manages the steps involved in the school travel plan process.

Is funding available?

Funding for travel plans, walking school buses and other initiatives that focus on changing travel behaviour is made available from Land Transport New Zealand to approved organisations (eg local councils). Up to 75% of the total cost of a project will be funded through its National Land Transport Programme. More information on the funding process is available here.

What makes a school travel plan successful?

A good school travel plan should document all journeys to and from the school. There are seven key factors in successful school travel plans. These are:

ownership by the school community
clear benefits for the school, addressing identified issues and ensuring a safe, sustainable initiative is in place
each plan tailored to meet the needs of a particular school rather than trying to impose a standard response
champions in the school community (eg senior staff member, caregiver) to provide the internal impetus as you work through the planning process
a school travel plan coordinator to work with the school community and provide an essential link between the school and the council
a practical, outcome-based approach, providing solutions that the school can own
positive relationships and commitment of key stakeholders, supported by clear and frequent communication.

Hands up survey

A national ‘hands up survey’, conducted by the Buckinghamshire County Council in England, shows that 73% of children in Buckinghamshire get to school using a sustainable form of transport.

Watch this space

What was the key factor in ensuring your school travel plan was a success? What were some of the hurdles you overcame? We want to include some case studies about schools that have developed and implemented school travel plans. Talk to a travel behaviour change facilitator at your nearest Land Transport New Zealand regional office if you have a story to tell.

Page created: 18 May 2007

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