A School Travel Plan is a document produced by the whole school community and any other interested parties. It looks at how pupils, staff, visitors and other site users travel to and from school.
The School Travel Plan will identify current issues and concerns with respect to the whole journey to and from school via survey forms and experience from all users. After establishing any problems or issues, the School Travel Plan will set out aims, objectives and targets towards alleviating these, at the same time as promoting safety and healthier lifestyles by supporting alternative methods of travel to the car wherever possible.
Overview of School Travel Plan (STPs)
The overall aim of the STP is to make the school journey and school environment safer and healthier for pupils, staff and visitors, by emphasising walking, public transport and cycling modes as appropriate. In the UK this strategy has been widely adopted in response to the nationwide problem of heavy traffic outside schools; it is reported that 20% of all traffic on our roads during the morning peak is school run traffic. This has local environmental, health and social impacts, as well as contributing to these problems on a global scale.
There is a need to have realistic goals; reducing car use will be a gradual process, achieved through education of both pupils and parents.
Current status of School Travel Plans in Southampton City Council
As part of City Council's Local Transport Plan (LTP), Southampton City Council set an ambitious target to ensure all schools in the city were involved in the travel planning by 2006/7. The government's target is for all educational establishments in the country have an approved STP in place by 2010.
Southampton City Council
