Walking buses are an important part of the Safe Routes to School schemes, which are being funded by local authorities and the Mayor of London.
Jenny is calling on Ken Livingstone, to expand the Safe Route to School schemes to cover all the schools in London. Such schemes have been shown to reduce traffic, ease parental fears and cut down on the number of children killed and injured on their way to school.
“Parents shouldn’t have to wait 15 years for their school to be covered by one of these schemes. It should be on the Mayor’s urgent list, with a least half of London’s schools covered in the next two years and the rest completed shortly after,” declared Jenny.
The walking buses, combined with speed cushions, new pedestrian crossings, educational activities, cycle training and 20mph zones around schools are examples of Safe Route measures. Pilot studies show that the number of school run cars could be cut in half by these schemes. Nationally, 18% of car trips in the morning peak are due to children being driven to school. The Safe Routes schemes could also help cut child casualties. In 1999, over a quarter of child pedestrian casualties in London were children on their way to school.
After lobbying from Jenny, the London Mayor has raised the Safe Routes to School budget to £8.5m this year and he has doubled the amount of money spent on 20mph zones in London. The Mayor recently told Jenny that if he was re-elected he wanted to cover the bulk of schools with safe routes by 2008. However, at current rates of expenditure it will still take over 15 years for Safe Route schemes to cover all the schools in London.
ENDS