School Travel Planning (STP) is a community-based approach that has been used with success both in Surrey and Canada-wide to increase the number of children choosing active transportation modes to get to and from school.
STP addresses the issues of sustainability, safety and health associated with children travelling to and from school. Key community stakeholders, such as the school district, city, police, parents, educators and children, work together with an STP facilitator to identify and help resolve their school transportation issues. In Surrey, we have successfully increased the number of children walking to school by up to 27%.
The City encourages parents and teachers to get involved with the School Travel Planning program so that they can give their personal input on issues they encounter on the way to school.
It is very important that those in the school community are actively involved in developing solutions, as they understand the school’s specific needs and culture. Some schools include their student government in the planning process.
Throughout the school year, the STP facilitator from the City will work with the committee to discuss survey results, possible projects and implementation measures, and incentives that the school can use in order to increase road and pedestrian safety and active travel mode share.
Two surveys are conducted at both the beginning and end of the STP program:
With the initial data, the City and school together are able to determine specific issues that need to be addressed, such as concerns of traffic safety and reasons why parents don’t let their children walk to school. This allows the City to look into areas that have safety concerns, and the school to implement appropriate programs to encourage walking and cycling.
When the follow-up surveys are completed at the end of the program approximately one year later, both the City and the school are then able to evaluate the success of the changes and determine what actions have most impacted students’ habits in travelling to school, and if safety concerns have decreased in the neighbourhood.
Counts are conducted at each school during both the morning and afternoon peak hours to provide detailed information such as the number of cars parked both legally and illegally, number of jaywalkers, and number of people using specific paths. The data collected from these counts are used to identify and assess problem areas and help in determining paths and locations that have a higher volume of pedestrians and traffic.
Follow-up data collection is done to evaluate progress towards the goals set during the action planning stage. The plan is tweaked as necessary. A School Travel Plan is intended to be a living document that becomes part of school policy and is revisited and updated on a regular basis.