School Travel

Tuesday 23rd March 2010, Grosvenor Hotel, 09:00 - 14:00 (half day)

School Travel: Safer, Greener and Healthier Journeys

"There is no single 'magic bullet' solution to improving school travel…While there are benefits to reducing car use and encouraging walking and cycling where appropriate, no single mode is suitable for everyone to use. Government and local authorities should work with schools, parents and students to encourage them to consider the impact of different forms of transport. Safe and suitable alternatives to car use for children and young people must be provided, be they public transport, dedicated school buses, walking schemes or safe cycling.”

Second Report on School Transport, Transport Select Committee, March 2009

Overview

Each day during the school term millions of pupils and their parents travel from home to school in the morning, and make the return trip in the afternoon. Many pupils living close to school walk, with those living further away travelling mainly by bus or by car. The school journey affects public transport patterns, causes localised congestion around schools.

'School Travel’, the Transport Select Committee’s latest report published on Sunday 22 March tells education and transport ministers they must do more to produce a modal shift away from cars towards public transport, through dedicated school transport including 'Yellow Buses.'

There is growing concern surrounding the issues of congestion and its impact on our environment and air quality, the health and inactivity of children and their long term health. The Government is committed to bring about a step change in pupils, parents and school staff school travel plans. The Education and Inspections Act places a new duty on local authorities to prepare and publish a sustainable school travel strategy leading to both health and environmental benefits. The Act also contains provision which will enable a small number of “Pathfinder” local authorities to develop school travel schemes to pilot innovative approaches to home to school travel with the particular aims of supporting school choice, reducing the distances pupils are expected to walk to school and increasing the proportion of children travelling by sustainable means. In addition to this, the Government published its Low Carbon Transport: A Greener Future Low Carbon Transport: A Greener Future strategy this summer. It shows how transport will make a major contribution to UK efforts to reduce CO2 emissions by 2022 and 2050 in line with the Climate Change Act 2008. Effective and well designed travel plans will not only have an impact on the environment but on the health and well being of the child.

Furthermore, children are the most vulnerable road users. The Government has made great efforts to reduce the number of children killed or injured in road accidents. However, sadly, it remains true that road accidents are one of the major causes of death and injury for children and young people. The Child Road Safety Strategy 2007 sets out an action plan of measures to reduce, by 50%, the number of children killed or seriously injured on our roads by 2010. This forum will offer delegates the opportunity to examine whether this target has been met.

Agenda

With the government increasing its efforts in tackling childhood obesity and combating climate change, this forum will offer delegates the opportunity to discuss how they can align their school travel plans with national and local sustainable and healthy living priorities.

09:00	Registration and Coffee
09:45	Chair’s Welcome Address Tony Armstrong, Chief Executive, Living Streets (CONFIRMED)
09:50	Meeting the Duty on Sustainable School Travel Planning Evaluating your school’s contribution to improving the health and safety of students: Teaching, learning and curriculum Equity and excellence Engagement and ethos Understanding the inspection criteria and what is expected Leszek Iwaskow, Advisor Sustainable Development, Ofsted (CONFIRMED)
10:10	Walk to School and WoW How to encourage walking The WoW scheme Walking as part of a healthy lifestyle Barriers to walking David Graham, Walk to School Manager, Living Streets (CONFIRMED)
10:30	Yellow Bus Scheme – Implementing Viable Alternatives to Car Usage Implications 14-19 Diploma will have on school travel Work of the Yellow Bus Commission Future of the Yellow Bus Scheme Improving efficiency and reducing dependency John Burch, Deputy Director, Operations, Confederation of Passenger Transport UK & Member, Yellow Bus Commission (CONFIRMED)
10:50	Safe, Sustainable Routes to School: Examples from Wolverhampton Cycling and pedestrian training Role of mapping and partnership working Making the most of your resources, using the schools website Walking and cycling schemes, Cycle links Travel plans and reviews Helena Jeremy, School Travel Advisor, Wolverhampton City Council and Vice-Chair, Modeshift (CONFIRMED)
11:10	Questions and Answers Session
11:30	Coffee Break and Networking
11:50	Overcoming the Barriers to Healthy Travel for Children Barriers to children’s healthy travel Reducing children’s car use: health and potential car dependency impacts Impact of the local environment on children's behaviour, perception and learning how children currently use the local environment and what can be done to make it easier and safer for them to move about on foot Effectiveness of walking buses Professor Roger Mackett, Centre for Transport Studies, University College London (CONFIRMED)
12:10	Improving Road Safety: Safer Journeys to School Promoting good practice in road safety education Effective child pedestrian training Encouraging local partnerships to deliver co-ordinated road safety activities Keeping young people safe on the streets Ensuring support for groups disadvantaged by extra travel Challenges facing the delivery of school travel planning Are we on target to reduce, by 50%, the number of children killed or seriously injured on our roads by 2010 Patricia Hayes, Director, Road and Vehicle Safety and Standards Directorate, Department for Transport (CONFIRMED)
12:30	Case Study: School Travel Success in Haringey School transport initiatives Consulting with students on school travel plans Next steps Annabelle Ankobia-Fosu, School Travel Advisor, London Borough of Haringey (CONFIRMED)
12:50	Questions and Answers Session
13:00	Lunch and Networking
14:00	Close

*programme subject to change without notice

Exhibitor

Cyclepods

Audience

Delegates will be drawn from central, local government, schools: Heads of Transport, Passenger Transport Managers, Education Transport Managers, Principal Transport Officers, School Business Managers, School Transport Managers, Anti-Social Behaviour Coordinators, Travelwise Officers, Councillors with Executive Responsibility for Transport, Environment and Education, Heads and Deputy Head Teachers, Passenger Transport Executives, Transport Police, Road Safety Managers, Engineering Managers.