School Travel Plans unravelled

Exactly what is a School Travel Plan? How is one developed? And what role can the road safety team play in the process?

In this interview with Alison Marshall, Lincolnshire County Council’s STP Co-ordinator, all this – and much more – is revealed.


Thanks for agreeing to this interview Alison. To begin with, can you explain what a School Travel Plan is?
It’s a package of measures put together to reduce congestion and increase safety on the school run - by encouraging pupils and parents to consider healthier alternatives such as walking or cycling to school.

It’s a partnership between the school, pupils, parents, staff, governors, local authority and the local community - with everyone working together to improve the local environment.

STPs are primarily concerned with hearts and minds. Trying to bring about behavioural and attitudinal change - making parents and children realise that the school travel choices they make impact on everyone.

STPs are NOT anti-car - some parents have little choice but to take the car as they may be carrying on to work after dropping their children off at school.
STPs provide people with alternatives such as car sharing and ‘park and stride’ – to enable people arriving by car to park further away from the school and complete the last part of their journey on foot. Park and stride can also link up with Walking Bus routes, along which trained adults supervise pupils.

The typical ‘nightmare’ situation encountered outside many schools

So what benefits does a STP set out to deliver?
The benefits go much further than merely reducing congestion at the school gates.

There is real concern that today’s children are not getting enough exercise. Not only do they make a lot of trips by car but in many cases their hobbies encourage a sedentary lifestyle. Many children spend hours in front of a computer screen or a Playstation, where the only exercise they get is ‘virtual’.

If children walk and/or cycle to school regular exercise becomes part of their daily routine and this is positive in helping to combat the ever-increasing rates of obesity and heart disease in society.

What’s more, essential road safety skills are gained by crossing roads and learning to behave responsibly on the journey to school. Children who have only experienced this journey from the back seat of a car can be extremely vulnerable when they make it independently for the first time - which is often when they go to secondary school. This is reflected in the accident statistics for this age group.

Finally, children benefit from social interaction with their peers and other adults while walking to school. They can talk about their day and will be more aware of the environment and the changes the seasons bring - things that are often missed from the back seat of a car.

Can you explain how a STP is developed? Who is involved, what are the steps, and how long does the process take?
Each school has its own set of problems with regard to the school run and because of this there are no quick fix solutions and no hard and fast rules as to who should be involved.

However, as a guideline in Lincolnshire we suggest the following five-stage approach.

Stage 1
Begin by consulting with parents, schools, the local community, local authorities and other agencies about the possible aims of a STP. The head and governors need to agree to proceed and a working group formed, comprising representatives from all parties involved (pupils, staff, parents, local residents, school crossing patrollers, local police, school travel plan co-ordinator).

Stage 2
Pupils, parents and staff then complete a travel survey in which they outline their chosen and preferred methods of travel to and from school, and their reasons for these choices. They also highlight any dangers they perceive along their route and indicate what may influence them to change their mode of travel.

Stage 3
Data is collated to identify current travel patterns and the reasons for the choices parents and pupils are making. Available walking and cycling routes are audited and practical measures identified to encourage more parents and pupils to walk or cycle. Clear objectives are set to tackle problems and sources of funding are explored.

Stage 4
The plan is developed and the benefits of implementing a STP are promoted to the pupils, parents, staff and local community.

Stage 5
The plan and travel modes should be monitored and reviewed regularly and changes required to sustain the plan should be implemented.

Improved cycle storage will encourage more cyclists

Do you know how many STPs there are across the UK?
The 2001 Traffic Research Laboratory’s (TRL) report, Take-up Rate of School Travel Plans, gives some pointers, though not a definite or final tally.

The report indicates a 12 per cent increase in the number of local authorities with STPs implemented or commenced - from 38 per cent in 1999 to 50 per cent in 2001.

It goes on to say that there are 276 recorded STPs underway in primary schools, 71 in secondary schools, 9 in middle schools and 20 in other types of school.

However, TRL probably did not have a 100 per cent response to its request for information, so it is likely there were more STPs at the time of the report. And since then bursary posts for STP officers have been introduced and this has led to a big increase.

There will be a good deal more STPs in operation now than recorded in the TRL report.

Is there special funding available to finance development of a STP?
Much can be achieved without money – for example setting up walking buses, car sharing, closing the gates to traffic at the start and end of each day, staggering leaving times and identifying park and stride sites.

However, where there are barriers preventing pupils from walking and cycling to school funding may be available to schools to overcome these.

How can this funding be obtained?
This differs from authority to authority. Some ask schools to submit a bid, others are built into the Safer Routes to Schools programme.

At Lincolnshire we are in the unique position of having a budget jointly funded by the Highways and Planning, Education and Cultural Services Directorates in order to implement anything that will encourage more pupils to walk or cycle to school.

This has enabled us – by working in conjunction with colleagues in Highways and Planning as part of a wider scheme - to implement improved cycle storage facilities, upgrade footpaths, improve access points to give priority to pedestrians and introduce traffic calming measures.

Finally, what role - if any - can the road safety team play in the STP?
The local road safety team is a vital element in the development process.

In Lincolnshire, we work very closely with our colleagues at The Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership. If an RSO is visiting a school they will talk about STPs and likewise when we visit schools we encourage them to build cycle and pedestrian training into the school curriculum and to explore the possibility of developing a Walking Bus. In other words, we help each other.

Ideally an RSO would have input into the School Travel Working Group but their focus would be the delivery of cycle and pedestrian training schemes and the setting up of a Walking Bus.

The work of the road safety team and the school travel plan co-ordinator go hand in hand and ideally the two parties should be working together to achieve common goals – to effect a modal switch where practical, and to improve road safety in and around schools.

Thanks for your time, Alison. And thanks also for agreeing to provide further information should anyone wish to contact you.

Footnote: Alison Marshall is school travel plan co-ordinator for Lincolnshire County Council. She can be contacted by email at: Alison.Marshall@lincolnshire.gov.uk.
The Lincolnshire road safety team has produced a resource showing how STPs can become an integral part of the curriculum. The Big Book (see pic) deals with the issues addressed by a STP (congestion, health, global warming, safe crossing, etc) in such a way that they become part of literacy objectives.

The resource has been given to every school in Lincolnshire to highlight the importance of STPs and is available for other local authorities to purchase. Alison will be pleased to provide pricing details on request.