School Travel Plans

What is a School Travel Plan?

A School Travel Plan is a document that a school develops in conjunction with the the Council. It outlines a series of practical steps the school and the Council can undertake to promote healthy and sustainable transport options and improve children’s safety on the journey to and from school.

The result of implementing the plan is a decrease in the number of cars on the road at peak school arrival and departure times and a reduction in the parking congestion at the school gate.

How effective are school travel plans?

What is required for developing a School Travel Plan?

The following steps need to be undertaken:

1. The school undertakes to develop a school travel plan
   For school travel planning to be an effective tool for addressing school travel issues, the school involved must have a real commitment and enthusiasm for developing and implementing its own travel plan.  At a minimum the Board of Trustees, the Principal and the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) must be fully supportive of the project.
2. Funding is secured
   Funding is required to cover the cost of a professional school travel planner to provide guidance to the school in developing its plan, and to cover expenses associated with administration, data collection and printing.  Depending on budget provision, most of this can be covered by the Council with minimal cost to the school.
3. A memorandum of understanding is signed
   Representatives of the school and the Council sign a memorandum of understanding to ensure that responsibilities and expectations are clearly understood by both parties.
4. A school travel planner is assigned to the school by the Council
   The school travel planner is responsible for providing guidance to the school during the development phase of the plan.
5. A working group is set up
   A working group is established by the school to oversee the development and implementation of the school travel plan.  Its members should include a member of the Board of Trustees, the principal or deputy principal, staff and parent representatives, Council officers (during the development phase), and may involve other stakeholders such as Police Education Officers and School Health Promoters.
6. Research is undertaken
   Data is gathered about where school families live, how their children travel to school, how they would like to travel to school, the routes they would take if they walked or cycled to school, the difficulties they would encounter on the way and other barriers to active and sustainable travel.  This data is then analysed by the Council and reported on to the working group. 
7. A draft plan is developed
   The working party develops a draft plan to address the issues identified by the research.  As well as new ideas, this plan should include what the school is already doing and how this could be built on (e.g. how to grow an existing walking school bus programme).  Once the draft action plan is completed staff, school families and other stakeholders are invited to make comments.
8. The school travel plan is written up and launched
   From the feedback received, the school travel plan is developed.  This document will contain an explanation of the aims and expected benefits of the plan, current travel patterns and identified key issues and obstacles to achieving the desired outcomes.  It will contain the finalised action plan for addressing these issues, with how, when and by whom the actions will be undertaken.  Once the school travel plan has been launched, the responsibility for implementation lies with the school.  For it to be a “living document” it is essential that there is monitoring of the implementation and impact of the school travel plan, and that it is updated periodically.

For comprehensive guidelines on School Travel Planning look at 

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