School Streets
A pioneering initiative to transform the roads around schools
It’s a simple idea — a School Street temporarily restricts motor traffic around schools at drop-off and pick-up times, allowing children to walk, cycle or scoot more safely to school. Signs are put up to inform drivers of the restriction, and barriers or cameras can be used to enforce it. Residents, local businesses, and blue badge holders are able to apply for exemptions.
What is a School Street?
Photo credit: School Streets project at Jessop Primary in Lambeth, Councillor Claire Holland
“It makes a real difference to the experience of getting to school. We don’t have to stand at the side of the road breathing in fumes and waiting while cars go past. We can stand and chat at the school gates.”
Why School Streets?
Those of us who pass schools during the morning rush hour know how polluted, busy and dangerous the surrounding roads can be.
47% of primary school children are driven to school in England. A TfL study revealed that around 25% of the morning rush hour traffic in London is parents dropping children off.
Closing the roads around schools is a powerful way to show that roads can be reclaimed from traffic, and makes the alternatives such as cycling and walking more attractive.
School Streets can help to improve poor air quality around schools where children are clustered at the start and end of the day. They also make it safer to walk, cycle and scoot to school, creating a more pleasant environment and giving children a chance to get some exercise.
AWARENESS-RAISING
School Streets also help to raise awareness about the link between vehicle emissions and health problems, giving a powerful signal to everyone who passes the road closures.
It might sound radical to close roads around schools, but the idea has really taken off across London, and is growing outside London. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, 25 boroughs in London had implemented the scheme or were planning to. Croydon and Islington were leading the charge with 13 schemes in place, closely followed by Hackney, Southwark, Camden, and Greenwich.
But our travel landscape changed due to the Covid 19 pandemic. The Government’s May 2020 statutory guidance and emergency funding put the emphasis on active travel and enabled local authorities to implement temporary measures to reallocate road space and ease the pressure on the roads. This meant that many more School Streets sprang up, as not only do they restrict car use around schools, they enable social distancing by allowing pupils to walk in the road.
As of July 2023 almost 600 School Streets were in place across London, and around 200 across the rest of England. This is an incredible leap from the 80-odd schemes that were in place in 2019.
Outside London
In January 2021 we published a report with Possible, the Active Travel Academy and Transport for Quality of Life, which assessed the current status and future potential for School Streets in four cities: London, Birmingham, Leeds and Bristol. It found that:
"a comprehensive roll-out of School Streets in the four cities would reduce exposure to air pollution and road danger for 1.25 million primary and secondary students."
So what held the scheme back in other cities? Partly, it's that cities outside London were not able to enforce School Streets with closed circuit cameras until 2022. From June 2022, local authorities outside London were able to apply to Government for the powers to be able to enforce School Streets with closed circuit cameras. More School Streets are being planned across England all the time, and we look forward to seeing this scheme go from strength to strength.
“Before it was introduced, it was really stressful taking the children to school. It was total chaos. Now my kids say they feel much calmer coming to school.”
The benefits of School Streets
We’ve created a short film to show you the benefits of School Streets.
Thanks to the teachers and parents of Jessop Primary School in Lambeth for taking part in this film.
“A School Streets trial at a primary school in Eltham resulted in a 54% reduction in cars driving to school, a 27% increase in cycling and 9% increase in scooting.”
How to Campaign for a School Street
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RAISE AWARENESS
In 2019 we contacted 300 schools in illegally polluted areas across London to raise awareness with teachers and parents. We offer support to parents and teachers in contacting local authorities to push for new School Streets schemes.
We’ve written a briefing document for parents who would like to know more about School Streets and how to get one, and a template letter, which you can adapt accordingly, to help you present your case for the scheme to your school and council. You can find both of these in our Resources section.
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SPREAD THE WORD
You can help to raise awareness of School Streets by chatting to other parents and discussing the issue at Parent Teacher Association meetings.
We’ve created a School Streets flyer that you can print and hand out, or ask your school to send out by email.
If you think there is support for the idea, please contact your headteacher and suggest they ask the local council to trial it.
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BE INFORMED
Please get in touch with us if you need help or advice. We offer one-to-one calls to discuss your particular situation to see if we can help.
You can also find more information, advice and help from others who have campaigned for a School Street in our School Streets Facebook group.
We often run School Streets webinars where we bring together parents, teachers and council representatives to talk about the council’s perspective on School Streets.
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OTHER IDEAS
School Streets are currently not suitable for all schools. Councils are likely to choose schools that are located on quiet side streets, and not those on busy main roads.
If your school is not suitable for a School Street, you can still ask your headteacher to lobby for mitigation measures, such as a green screen around the school, changing the main entrance of the school onto a quieter side street, or tackling idling drivers outside the school gates. Get some more tips for Schools.
Any questions?
We’re always happy to have a chat about School Streets on the phone or to present to your school about the scheme.
“I salute and admire those mothers who have stepped bravely into what appears to be a leadership and compliance vacuum and who are shaming the powers that be, which they feel strongly are not doing enough to protect their children, to take action.”
Next steps
Once you have your School Street, the next step is to celebrate it! We have posters you can put up on your street. We would urge you to ask parents, teachers and residents to send feedback to your councillors and cabinet members so that they know whether the scheme is making a difference or has any ongoing implementation issues.
Further down the line, there will be a consultation in order for the community to feedback their thoughts on the scheme to the Council. The results of this decide whether the scheme will be made permanent or removed. If your School Street has been put in with an experimental traffic order, there will also be a live consultation (eg using a “Commonplace” map of the scheme, where people can leave comments online) that runs from the start of implementation for up to 6 months. This is to allow the scheme to be put in place without delay, and any necessary changes made live whilst the scheme is in place, in order for the community to experience the benefits as quickly as possible.
Please publicise these options for feedback amongst your community, and ask parents and residents to register their thoughts. It is often the case that those who dislike something will shout the loudest - so it’s always important to encourage those who like the scheme to send feedback.
If you’re in London with a new School Street or one that’s about to begin, we have a celebratory School Streets flyer to help you celebrate it or explain the benefits of the scheme to your school community. You can order or download it on our Resources page.