Improve air quality and road safety with end-to-end School Streets programme!

School streets are becoming increasingly popular in the UK, with more than 500 across London alone.

Road traffic policies are getting stricter, technology is getting more intelligent, and we, as humans, are always looking at ways to improve our environment, infrastructure, and daily lives.

This has been the case with school streets, where we have witnessed an evolution in how they operate around the country. In a nutshell, school streets are a temporary road closure for certain motor vehicles outside the school gates during pick-up and drop-off periods. This is to help children access the school safely, promote active travel, reduce air pollution, and improve health.

Our solution to School Streets Benefits of School Streets

School Streets have traditionally been implemented with street signs and physical barriers to prevent motor vehicles from entering the car-free zone. Although, it is resource-intensive, unsightly and adds no value regarding health, infrastructure, and traffic congestion.

Together with our sister brands, we can provide either a partial or whole School Streets programme, from initial design and public engagement (Project Centre) to air quality measurement (Vortex) and control traffic contraventions with unattended CCTV technology (Videalert).

Unattended CCTV technology provides actionable data regarding the number of cars removed from the zone, vehicle type, co2 emission vehicle band, and much more. This can be coupled with a hyperlocal air quality monitoring solution to collect real-time localised air quality readings to support data-driven decisions and validate its environmental impact.

Case Study: Lewisham Council

Lewisham Council’s Transport team undertook an ambitious venture to deliver a School Streets programme across the most traffic-congested locations in the borough. Using our unattended CCTV enforcement technology, the Council aimed to reduce traffic volume outside the schools with zero vehicle control and instead favour pedestrians and cyclists during morning and afternoon periods.

The process Outcome

Providing clear and consistent engagement and communication with the community through consultation maps, online survey and face-to-face conversations

Promoting a diverse and inclusive communication strategy

Writing to teachers to help them communicate the value and importance of the programme

Installing 45 ANPR cameras

Introducing vehicle controls to reduce traffic volume and vehicle speed outside 22 schools

CCTV clip reviews and back-office processing

Improved road safety

The safety of children is essential around school roads, and we have seen significant progress in the last decade in ensuring we limit traffic-related accidents. However, road collisions remain one of the leading causes of premature death among children and young people aged 0-15, with 35% of child pedestrians killed or seriously injured during what is typically classified as the ‘school run’.

Using our CCTV technology to control the closure of school roads at particular times, children can actively go to school without fear of being involved in a dangerous accident.

Improved air quality

Approximately 50% of London's emissions come from road vehicles. Toxic air causes thousands of early deaths each year, slowing young lung growth and increasing respiratory illness. Also, children walk closer to the exhausts of idle vehicles on their way to school, particularly in densely populated places. By removing these vehicles from our school gates, children will benefit from cleaner air and associated health implications

Encourage active travel

Since School Streets rolled out, we have seen a significant behaviour change in how people travel to school. Every person should have the right to clean air and be able to walk, cycle, scoot, or wheel to school with the enjoyment of fresh air and the company of their friends.

We recognise that good behaviour change is challenging. Therefore, we carefully develop a programme that consults with the affected individuals to deliver to ensure each party agrees with the intervention.

In total, the interventions reduced 862,500 vehicle movements around school pick-up and drop-off times across the 22 schools. At Holbeach Primary School alone, vehicle movement decreased by 75%. Meanwhile, at Rushey Green Primary School, there was a 32% reduction in vehicle movements.

Emmet Ruxton, a parent at Thorpewood Primary School.