BLOG 2 - SCHOOLS AS ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERS: STEP ONE – ENCOURAGING ACTIVE SCHOOL TRAVEL (19 Sept 2022)
I’m deeply concerned about the climate crisis. Yet, despite the doom and gloom prognosis of most climate scientists, I still hold out hope that we can reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and limit warming to 1.5 degrees. School boards need to set targets to reduce district school board headquarters and each school’s emissions by 75% by 2030, 100% by 2035, including staff and student travel. And at the school level, we must have campaigns to encourage students, and staff when possible, to engage in active transportation. Active school travel is non-motorized travel, including walking, cycling, scootering and movements with mobility devices.
I remember all too well, not so many years ago, the line-up of cars, idling on the street, to pick up students at my son’s elementary school. I could not understand why so many parents/caregivers found it necessary to drive their children to and from school in our neighbourhood. What can be done, then, to encourage students and staff to engage in active school travel?
First, we need active school travel (AST) education programs in all our schools and communities. I have recently learned about #BikeBus, “BikeTrain, and #CycleTrain initiatives in schools whereby a group of students (and sometimes their parents too) cycle together on a set route at a set time to go to and from school. There are many aims associated with the BikeBus including encouraging students and parents to cycle, enhancing physical and mental well-being, and making cycling to school safer and easier.
Second, London school boards need to work with the City of London to build safe and connected cycling and pedestrian infrastructure (e.g., dedicated bike lanes, sidewalks), construct bike shelters and install bike pumps at schools. Encouraging Londoners to bike and walk to school (and work) will need to be both a school board and municipal initiative. This aligns perfectly with London’s Climate Emergency Action Plan and is outlined in Area of Focus 2: Taking Action Now (Household Actions), which states that the City aims to continue “to work with community partners … to engage Londoners on walking, cycling”.
And furthermore, we need to focus on clearing the snow and ice off sidewalks for pedestrians first (before roads) to encourage students, their parents/caregivers and school staff to walk to school in the winter. There are models in place for doing this already. For example, the City of Toronto Vision Zero Road Safety Plan, outlines what needs to be done to create School Safety Zones to increase safety for children and parents travelling to and from school. In terms of encouraging cycling and walking these include vehicle speed reductions, installing safety zone signs with flashing beacons, school stencil pavement markings, enhanced pedestrian crosswalk markings, increased pedestrian walk times and advance green for pedestrians where applicable, and prohibited turn movements (where applicable).
The Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) champions the importance of mental health and well-being of students, families, and staff. Research shows that those who regularly cycle and walk have a significantly lower risk of feeling stressed. Active transportation releases our 'feel-good' hormones known as endorphins, which help to relax your mind and make you feel happier. This boosts your mood and reduces your feelings of anxiety. So, encouraging active school travel is good for both our physical and mental health. Moreover, we know that enhancing physical and mental well-being also has positive impacts on student independence and academic achievement, so this is really a win-win-win situation.
Active school travel is also good for community building. When parents/caregivers are in their cars, they are not communicating and socializing with one another. People in the local neighbourhood get annoyed with cars blocking driveways, the road, and producing greenhouse gases with engines idling in their neighbourhoods. Besides, all of that air pollution can’t be good for our kids either. For any plan such as this to work there must be a holistic approach. The Canadian School Travel Plan Toolkit outlines the 5E approach, which I think is excellent. Here are the 5Es: 1) Education- increased awareness of the benefits of and confidence in active school travel 2) Engineering – to make active school travel convenient and safer (e.g. lower speed limits) 3) Encouragement – events, awards, prizes, etc. to encourage students and staff to engage in active school travel 4) Enforcement – can include ticketing cars idling and waiting in illegal areas/blocking driveways 5) Evaluation – use data to assess the benefits and challenges of implementing an active school travel plan Let’s do it. Let’s make Active School Travel safe, fun, enjoyable and easy for our students, their caregivers and school staff.
