Some statistics
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At 8.45am and 3.30pm on school days suburban streets are invaded by hoards of 'mum’s taxis' on the school run. Frazzled parents regularly run the gauntlet of congested streets, double parked cars and kids darting in or out of the school gate.
The results are stressed and time constrained parents, unsafe streets and inactive and overweight kids.
Parents are usually responsible for making decisions about how children and young adults get to school. Increasingly they are choosing the driving option and as a result our health and communities are suffering.
Driven round the bend
In 2004 the State Government is running a program called the Victorian Greenhouse Strategy Schools Project: Reducing the Barriers to Walking and Cycling to School which aims to reduce the amount of car trips to and from schools. Surveys and focus groups were conducted in 34 Victorian Government schools to find out how children are getting to school and to determine what the real and perceived barriers are.
Barrier 1 – Distance
Some parents said anything greater than 500m was too far to walk and anything over 1km was too far to ride. This is often a matter of perception as some children surveyed rode up to 10km to school.
Barrier 2 – Roads and traffic
"we drive … because there’s busy roads around … A lot of congestion everywhere"
Traffic was more of a concern for parents of primary aged children. The common issues are driving behaviour of parents around schools, children being able to safely cross roads and speed of traffic.
Barrier 3 – Personal safety
Perception of stranger danger also influences parents.
"…there is no way known I am going to let my kids walk to school with someone I don’t know…"
"I’d trust my neighbours but you don’t want to feel like you are inconveniencing people…"
Barrier 4 – Convenience
"I sit there for twenty-five minutes, out the front…Because if you don’t you don’t get a parking spot."
Survey Findings
12,000 surveys were returned and the findings show that:
- Many children are dropped off by parents on the way to work but about 10% less students are driven home, which means it’s possible to walk and cycle
- 80% of Primary & 60% of Secondary students live within 3 kilometres of their school
- 59% of Primary & 51% of Secondary students are driven 5 days per week – literally just around the corner
- The vast majority of students are driven some days per week. Very few are never driven
- Over 17 million km are travelled driving to and from the 34 participating schools each year which costs the parents over $12 million annually.
- On the positive side, 33% of primary children and 44% of secondary students sometimes or regularly walk or cycle to school, which indicates it can be done.
Brian Peddie, Project Officer for the program says "to address these barriers School Travel Plans are being developed to set out ways that will encourage students and their parents to get out of the car and try walking and cycling.
Schools are submitting Travel Plans, which include events, mapping of safe routes and transport alternatives. These will be implemented in 2004". Surveys will be carried out at the end of 2004 to determine how successful the program has been.