This is a summary of the council’s sustainable travel to school strategy, updated for the academic year 2011/12.
The Education and Inspections Act 2006 places a general duty on councils to promote the use of sustainable transport on the school journey. ‘Sustainable’ means travel in other ways than car journeys with only one passenger in the car.
The sustainable travel to school strategy builds on other related policies, initiatives and strategies at both national and local level to improve the safety, health, well-being and future prospects of young people. The strategy takes into account the needs of young people with disabilities, extended schools, 14-19 diplomas and the future needs of schools and pupils.
Our vision for sustainable travel to school is to help children and young people in North Lincolnshire travel to places of education and training in ways that are sustainable and good for their health, personal development and independence. It has the following objectives:
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To reduce the number of single passenger or driver car journeys on all school and college related journeys
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To increase walking, cycling, bus use and car sharing to school and college
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To understand the transport needs of children and young people to attend all types educational provision and try to find sustainable transport solutions to meet them
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To encourage children and young people to take up healthier lifestyles by promoting sustainable ways of travelling to school and colleges
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To enable children and young people with learning disabilities and difficulties to become more independent in their travel and rely less on specialist and bespoke transport arrangements
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To contribute to children and young people having a safer, cleaner, less polluted environment by reducing traffic on the road, providing and promoting convenient and integrated public transport and walking and cycling routes to school and colleges.
The council hopes to achieve these in partnership with schools, colleges, the police, and parents. The partnership has drawn up an action plan, which includes:
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To work, initially, with four pilot schools representing a cross section of typical schools in the area
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To complete an infrastructure audit of school routes
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To actively support initiatives aimed at reducing the single passenger car journey
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Publish travel information on the North Lincolnshire website
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To have available individual travel data for each school
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Monitor, through the annual school census, evaluate travel modes and review where necessary
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Take active steps to encourage cycling, walking and car share
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To investigate sources of funding to support the strategy
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To offer active support to all schools to encourage sustainable travel.
The strategy will build on the work done by schools through their travel plans. It offers practical support to schools and to parents/carers when making decisions on schools and the school journey. It will make available, for the first time, a single source of travel information giving contact details of those who can offer more specialised support, which you can access from either the council’s, or school’s, website.
If you would like more information about the strategy please contact Richard Hall on 01724 297346 or Ruth Bohin on 01724 297215.