Memorandum submitted by Geoff Gardner,
North Yorkshire Country Council (ST 21)
1. Geoff Gardner was formerly a Principal
Scientific Officer at the Government's Transport Research Laboratory
but is now the Travel Awareness Officer for North Yorkshire County
Council. The County has 450 schools and spends £17 million
per year on school transport. North Yorkshire has fewer children
walking to school than anywhere else in the region. Geoff heads
a team of six part-time teachers encouraging schools to have school
travel plans. This team is separate from, but works alongside,
the school bus team and road safety officers.
2. Originally an engineer in the public
and private sector, Geoff has a Masters Degree in Transport Planning
& Decision-Making. Currently he is joint-supervisor for two
Psychology PhD students. School Travel Plans are therefore linked
to construction of "Safer Routes to School", they feed
into school bus planning, and they aim for a long-term change
in behaviour.
PROMOTING BETTER
WAYS TO
SCHOOL IN
NORTH YORKSHIRE
1. North Yorkshire is England's largest
county and yet has a population of only 500,000. Not the most
obvious place in which to encourage a reduction in car use. Despite
this, the council has taken a highly pro-active approach and has
a travel awareness strategy and a marketing plan. Materials produced
by an award-winning advertising agency have been sold on to 23
other authorities. Promotional campaigns keep travel awareness
in the news with regular use of "stunts" such as magicians
on buses and Military Band escorts to school.
2. A team of six part-time teachers uses
curriculum-based activities to involve children in the school
travel planning process. Drama workshops for teachers, poetry
sessions with a published poet and numeracy lessons using pedometers
all form an important part of our work. Bus awareness days in
village schools teach how to buy a ticket on a real bus and how
to smile to the driver. Our work has featured in DfT/DfES best-practice
guidance and been commended by OFSTED. Headteachers from 80 schools
with travel plans showed high satisfaction levels with the County
Council input.
3. The current priority is to translate
school travel plans into action. This principally takes the form
of encouraging schools to set up a "Five Minute Walking Zone".
All schools get a Walkzone map. Lesson plan packages help groups
of pupils and parents/carers investigate the extent of the zone
and devise ways of publicising it. The pupils themselves then
explain the desired behaviour for those living inside or outside
this zone. "Park up at a Friend's house" extends this
idea to promote oft-neglected social and mental health.
4. A key feature of North Yorkshire's approach
is the focus on a holistic fundamental structure. This acknowledges
that traffic reduction needs consideration of three `N's. The
Need to travel (influenced by school catchment policies), the
Networks for non-car users (often obstructed because of "Secured
By Design"), and then the Niceties of travel awareness promotions.
THE MAIN
RECOMMENDATIONS FROM
NYCC ARE THAT
1. Selection policies that generate the
need to travel long distances to choice schools cannot be reversed
but should be monitored for impact on travel and attention given
to the worst "market distortions".
2. New housing developments should be permeable
to walking and cycling especially when they are near schools.
Existing planning guidance promoting walking (PPG13) needs to
take at least equal priority with "Secured By Design"
which encourages footpath closures.
3. More research is needed on a full psychology
of change model, zig-zag parking behaviour and professional marketing
of a five minute walking zone. A methodology for a Health Impact
Assessment is needed to balance the narrower Risk Assessments.
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