Active Travel, Part Two: School Streets and Safer Routes to School
Meet Rachel
Rachel is a Transport Planner working to promote active and sustainable travel choices across the UK and Ireland. Rachel has supported local authorities, assisting a broad range of projects, including travel planning, transport strategy development, active travel, public transport feasibility, and behaviour change campaigns.
Making School Streets Safer in Scotland
Have you ever wished your journey to school was a bit quieter, safer, and more fun? That’s exactly what two ideas called School Streets and Safer Routes to School are all about. They help make your walk, cycle, or scoot to school safer and more enjoyable!
What Are School Streets and Safer Routes to School?
As parents, carers, educators, and community members, we all want children to have the safest and healthiest possible journey to and from school. Two key strategies making this a reality in Scotland and beyond are School Streets and Safer Routes to School initiatives.
Travelling Safely to and from School
School Streets
School Streets are special zones around schools where cars aren’t allowed during busy times like the morning drop-off or afternoon pick-up. That means fewer cars, cleaner air, and safer spaces to cross the road. These streets are closed with signs or temporary barriers, and sometimes even cameras are used to help keep everyone safe.
Safer Routes to School
This concept looks beyond the school gate and considers the entire journey a child takes. Often spanning up to 500–800 metres around a school, Safer Routes to School schemes invest in infrastructure like:
Some of the things that make routes safer include:
- Wider pavements for walking
- Special lanes just for bicycles
- Safe crossings where cars stop for you
- Signs to remind drivers to slow down
In Scotland, these efforts are often supported by Sustrans, Transport Scotland, and local authority funding. Safer Routes to School projects are designed not only to improve infrastructure but also to educate families and promote behavioural change.
As of January 2024, there were 468 School Street schemes registered with the Street School Streets Initiative (accessnetwork.uk).
What’s Happening Around Local Schools in Scotland?
Imagine a school with lots of cars outside. The roads are crowded, cars are parked on pavements, and it can be scary trying to cross the street. This is what happens at many schools today.
Here’s what parents and carers say:
Here are some ways to make it better:
- School Street trial: Only walking, scooting and cycling allowed at school start and finish times
- Speed bumps and 20mph zones to slow cars down
- Safe bike lanes with protective barriers
- Walking bus: groups of children walk together with adults leading the way
Slower Speeds, Safer Streets : Project Showcasing
As a Transport Planner, Rachel works on projects relating to Active Travel Plans, behaviour change and safety. Rachel and colleagues worked on a research project on behalf of Transport Scotland and the Scottish Road Safety Research Board (SRRB) to investigate how zebra crossings can be improved for vulnerable road users. This work focused on issues experienced at zebra crossing and suggested improvements (including physical changes as well as cultural changes such as improved motorist education).
As part of the project, research was undertaken with young people, with the view to trialling an awareness-raising campaign informed by pupil voice, aimed at improving attitudes and behaviours of motorists at zebra crossings.
Initially, initial research was undertaken on pupils’ views of a zebra crossing near their school, then develop a campaign plan aimed at parents/ carers/ wider community on behaviour, and then undertake a post-campaign, to gather evidence of whether awareness and behaviours have improved. Engagement like this can really help to shape our built environment and create safer places.
Active Travel and the A9
While School Streets focus on local interventions, it is vital to connect them with national infrastructure, especially in areas near major transport corridors like the A9.
The A9 is Scotland’s longest trunk road, stretching from Perth to Inverness. While crucial for commerce and long-distance travel, its surrounding communities often face high vehicle volumes and speeding concerns.
A9 Local Area improvements benefitting school and community access:
- North Kessock to Kessock Bridge: A wide, shared-use path now connects this area to Inverness, accommodating both cyclists and pedestrians. Safety barriers have been upgraded, and surfaces improved.
- Perth to Inverness Safety Programme: Since the rollout of average speed cameras, vehicle speeding has dropped by 97%, and fatalities have halved.
- Active Travel Corridors: Local authorities are beginning to link their school routes into these upgraded A9-accessible corridors, encouraging regional cycle commuting and safer routes for older students.
By ensuring connectivity, we help both rural and urban students to access school, by promoting safer routes and school street to decrease the reliance on private vehicles—even when journey distances are longer.
Let’s make Scotland’s school journeys a model for the world—starting right outside the school gate.
If you enjoyed Part 2, then why not have a look at Part 1: Active Travel: The benefits of walking, wheeling and cycling
