School Travel Planning

School Travel Planning is a community-based approach that aims to increase the number of children choosing active transportation modes to get to and from school, thereby addressing the issues of sustainability, safety and health associated with ‘the school run.’ Key community stakeholders (school boards, municipalities, police, public health professionals, parents, educators and children) work together to identify and solve their school transportation problems.

Through a five-step process, each school writes a School Travel Plan, with assistance from the community stakeholders, that includes an action plan describing steps they plan to implement such as:

• engineering improvements at or near school sites—e.g. pedestrian crossings, repairs/upgrades to sidewalks, signage;
• introduction of school infrastructure—e.g. bike shelters, bike racks, lockers;
• education—e.g. traffic safety education for pedestrians and cyclists, ducation about personal security;
• community mobilization—e.g. walking school buses, walking buddies, ride sharing;
• encouragement—e.g. celebrations of physical activity and environment, event days, recognition and rewards for walking/biking.
• The School Travel Planning approach has had great success in other countries— increasing the number of children walking and biking to school; reducing traffic congestion at schools; making routes to school safer; and improving air quality.

Alberta participated in the Canadian pilot test of School Travel Planning that took place from November 2007 through March 2009. Calgary school participated in the pilot project but now schools in Edmonton and Grande Prairie are participating in the next phase of the project.