Even if the weather seems uncertain, our calendar tells us that it’s September again and across the Borough children and young people are back travelling to school. They will do so come rain or shine every weekday morning and afternoon, making over 11 million local journeys over the course of the next school year.
Around half of these trips are on foot.
A surprisingly small number of children cycle, and a growing number are scooting.
For some with long journeys, buses and public transport are often available but, despite all these options, more than a third of children are still taken to school by car.
The health and social benefits for children walking, cycling or scooting to school can be profound, but parental concern about risk from traffic, whether crossing the road or cycling along it, causes them to choose the car.
This increases the traffic experienced by others, and so we continue.
One potential tool to break out of this spiral is the concept of School Streets, which restrict traffic around schools during the peak hours to make walking and cycling safer, and also reduce air pollution in the school playground and buildings.
We understand that Wokingham asked schools for interest in School Streets last year but, as yet, none are planned.
Neighbouring councils seem to be making better progress, with either trials or permanent schemes in Reading (four), West Berkshire (one), Oxfordshire (five) and Hampshire (three) supported by local authority design and legal support.
Wokingham is planning future major walking and cycling routes, but school travel needs a more detailed approach, looking at the barriers to walking for a mile or so around primary schools, and barriers to walking and cycling for a larger radius around secondary schools. As long as this task falls mostly to our busy schools without additional support and resources, we fear that things are unlikely to improve.
WATCH would like to see a shift in resources from making driving easier to more sustainable projects, and there’s nowhere better to start than with school travel, as good habits really do start young.
