Activating Transport to School with a Safe System, Renewable Energy and Community Engagement

Abstract

Improving active transport to schools is a solvable problem with benefits extending far beyond traditional transport measures. Health, academic performance, renewable energy sources (these critters can run on bananas) and congestion, just to name a few. But safety and active transport go together. If it’s not safe, people won’t walk or ride and they certainly won’t let their children do it. To tackle congestion around schools we need to make it safe. Not just according to engineering standards, but also to parent’s standards. This paper presents data from an active transport infrastructure school case study. It presents heat maps showing locations where parents are concerned about safety and discusses crossing treatments that ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ the parent test. Results indicate parental expectations of safety align well with Safe System principles. This creates clear direction for future active transport infrastructure planning. The paper will discuss simple methods for finding, defining, and scoping projects to address barriers around local state schools, and engaging with these communities.