Over the last 30 years, the proportion of children walking and cycling to school has plummeted. Increasing numbers of children are now being driven to and from school. As we become more aware of the importance of regular exercise, built-in to everyday living, this level of car use has began to be questioned by public health professionals and transport planners. It is estimated that some 20% of morning peak hour traffic congestion is made up of parents driving their children to school. For these reasons, a concerted effort is underway to encourage children to ride to school.
Relevant examples include:
- TravelSmart Queensland, website, TravelSmart Schools.
Visit Site
Information on Queensland’s TravelSmart Schools program. - TravelSmart curriculum resource for teachers.
Visit Site
Schools around Australia have opportunities to learn about and engage in healthier and more sustainable travel options through innovative programs and curriculum. - TravelSmart, 2007, TravelSmart Education, Department of Infrastructure, Victorian Government.
Visit Site
This webpage outlines the Victorian Government’s TravelSmart Education program; run in two separate streams, schools and universities. - TravelSmart Western Australia, website, How can your school be TravelSmart.
Visit Site
Information on Western Australia’s TravelSmart Schools program. - Ride2School Program
Visit Site
Ride2School program is a behavioural change program which aims to increase the number of students walking and riding to school. The program provides a 15 step guide for establishing a Ride2School program for schools. Selected schools can also receive expert assistance to encourage more children to cycle to school. - Ride2School Program, Bicycle Victoria Annual Report 2006-2007
View PDF
More students riding and walking more often to school.
- Tal, G. & Handy, S. (2008) Children's Bicycling to After-School Activities: The Case of the Davis AYSO Bike-to-Soccer Program. Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Davis, Research Report UCD-ITS-RR-08-08
Visit Site
One place where children might be expected to use non-motorized modes to get to after-school activities is Davis, CA, well-known as a bicycle-friendly community. Davis AYSO undertook a promotional program to encourage families to bike to games, including distribution of “Bike to AYSO” bike stickers, the creation of a special web site that included a Davis Bike Map, and e-mail announcements to almost all families about the “Bike to AYSO” effort. To evaluate the effectiveness of this program in encouraging players and their families to bike more frequently, Davis AYSO worked with researchers at the University of California, Davis.
This report describes the methods used in that effort and summarizes the results. - Developing school-based cycle trains in New Zealand
View PDF
A free download, research paper from the Department of Land Transport in New Zealand. - Walking School Bus program
Visit Site
The Walking School Bus Program (WSB) is a VicHealth initiative that’s giving communities an effective and easy way to get children walking to school again. There are more than 60 participating Council's Visit Site in Victoria.
Today in Victoria nearly one-third of all children spend less than 5 minutes walking per day. Inactive children are more likely to be overweight – with the proportion of Australian children who are in this category now reaching 25%. Walking to and from school gives children the opportunity to engage in regular physical activity. There is now data available View PDF on the success of the WSB program. A document illustrating the key learning's View PDF of of the WSB and an evaluation of the WSB program View PDF available.
Key outcomes, "It's more than just walking" is also available for download. View PDF - Streets Ahead: supporting children to get active in their neighbourhood
View PDF
VicHealth developed the Streets Ahead program in 2008 to build on the successes of the Walking School Bus (WSB) program to allow for the development of more comprehensive and flexible children's independent mobility demonstration projects in five communities in Victoria. - The Australian Bicycling Achievement Awards - Award for an educational institution for innovation in encouraging cycling to school
Visit Site
the 2007 Winner: Newhaven Primary School, Victoria, with an honourable mention going to Warrnambool West Primary School Vic & Woodford Primary School, Warrnambool Vic. For details of the category details Visit Site
International
- Campus encourages students to "just say no" – to cars
Visit Site
Among the many choices Ripon College's class of 2012 will face is whether or not to bring a car to campus this fall. Those who pledge not to do so will receive a big incentive: a brand-new mountain bike to keep. Dubbed the "Ripon Velorution Program" (RVP), it is the first of its kind in the US.
Incoming students starting their first college semester at Ripon will have the option to sign an RVP pledge this spring saying that they will not bring a car to campus for the duration of the upcoming academic year. Those who participate will be given a brand-new Trek 820 mountain bike, a Trek Vapor helmet, and a MasterLock U-Lock to keep. - "Japan Mamachari Bicycles on Parade", Japanese mothers biking their children to school, (2007) (3.39 mins video) by softypapa
Visit Site
