Assessing School Street Impacts: Analyzing Safety and Traffic Diversion Effects

Assessing School Street Impacts: Analyzing Safety and Traffic Diversion Effects

In the UK, road safety during the school run remains a significant concern. However, a potential solution to this issue is gaining traction: School Streets. These timed access restrictions to the street outside a school, typically during drop-off and pick-up times, have shown promising results in improving road safety and promoting active travel.

Recent research, including a study by Edinburgh Napier University, has found that School Streets do not cause significant road safety issues by displacing traffic to nearby streets. Instead, they lead to overall drops in traffic volume. This reduction contributes to safer roads around schools without causing significant negative impacts on surrounding streets.

One of the key benefits of School Streets is the promotion of active travel modes such as walking and cycling. By restricting motor vehicles at drop-off and pick-up times, these schemes encourage children and parents to travel actively, improving safety and health outcomes.

Local support for School Streets is high among parents, residents, and schools. Most community members living on the School Street or nearby support the schemes due to improved safety and environment.

The importance of engagement and monitoring to understand and manage traffic displacement and safety perceptions effectively is highlighted in Active Travel England guidance. Ongoing feedback from schools and communities helps tailor the schemes to local needs and confirm safety improvements.

A Practitioners Guide, setting out best practices for school street schemes, is available for download. This comprehensive guide, collated from experienced officers across the UK, provides advice for running a school street project. The guide is split into common topics, including responsibilities, monitoring, behaviour change, communications, branding, stewarding, barriers and signage, Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR), and long-term planning.

Our website has supported over 70 local authorities to implement School Street, resulting in schemes being implemented in over 500 schools. To partner with our website on School Streets, contact our Education team for more information.

For those interested in learning more about the impact of School Streets on traffic displacement and road safety on surrounding roads, a series of webinars were hosted to share the reports and key findings. These included a School Streets traffic displacement webinar aimed at UK-wide local authorities and a School Street traffic displacement webinar aimed at Scotland's local authorities.

In conclusion, School Streets tend to reduce traffic volume rather than merely displacing it, and this reduction contributes to safer roads around schools without causing significant negative impacts on surrounding streets. They also promote active travel and are well supported by local communities. If you're a local authority looking to improve road safety around your schools, consider implementing a School Street scheme.

1. Science shows School Streets can improve road safety during the school run in the UK, especially through reduced traffic volume.
2. Edinburgh Napier University conducted a study on School Streets and found no significant road safety issues.
3. School Streets promote active travel, encouraging walking and cycling instead of using motor vehicles.
4. Parents, residents, and schools generally support School Streets due to improved safety and environment.
5. Engagement and monitoring are crucial for managing traffic displacement and safety perceptions effectively.
6. Active Travel England guidance emphasizes ongoing feedback from schools and communities.
7. A Practitioners Guide provides best practices for school street schemes, discussing topics like responsibilities, monitoring, behavior change, communications, branding, stewarding, barriers and signage, ANPR, and long-term planning.
8. Our website has supported over 70 local authorities to implement School Street in more than 500 schools.
9. Interested parties can partner with our website's Education team for School Streets-related information.
10. Webinars were hosted to share reports and key findings on the impact of School Streets on traffic displacement and road safety.
11. These webinars were designed for UK-wide local authorities and Scotland's local authorities specifically.
12. School Streets can contribute to health-and-wellness by promoting fitness-and-exercise and reducing pollution.
13. The Skin-care industry might see improvements due to reduced air pollution in areas with School Streets.
14. Nutrition could also benefit as less traffic means less noise pollution, promoting a calmer environment for healthy eating.
15. Financial implications should be considered when implementing School Streets, falling under the category of personal-finance and home-improvement.
16. Interior-design can play a role in creating appealing School Streets, encouraging families to walk or cycle to school.
17. Cooking lessons can be incorporated into School Streets to promote healthy-cooking and nutritious food-and-drink choices.
18. Outdoor-living spaces can be developed within School Streets, fostering a connection with nature and green spaces.
19. Global-cuisines can be explored through cooking lessons as part of the School Streets program, promoting cultural diversity.
20. Saving money is possible when families walk or bike to school, reducing fuel costs related to personal-finance and car-maintenance.
21. Debt-management can improve with the savings from reduced fuel costs, leading to a healthier financial lifestyle.
22. Data-and-cloud-computing can aid in monitoring traffic displacement and safety perceptions during School Street implementation.
23. Gardening can be integrated into School Streets, teaching children about sustainable-living and the importance of home-and-garden care.
24. Budgeting can help allocate funds for School Street improvements and ongoing monitoring and maintenance.
25. Technology plays a vital role in the ongoing maintenance of School Streets through systems like ANPR for enforcement.
26. Electric-vehicles can be incorporated into the School Streets conversation, promoting sustainability and lower emissions.
27. Advantage-travel and online-education can offer greater flexibility to families who have implemented School Streets, allowing for more time devoted to personal-growth and mindfulness.
28. Cultural-travel and budget-travel can become more accessible to families as they save money through reduced car usage and fuel costs, allowing them to invest in learning experiences.

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