Developing a school travel planning guide

Active travel provides freedom and independence to children and young people and contributes to building self-esteem, social skills, discipline and leadership while reducing the symptoms of depression and stress. To capture the plethora of benefits derived from active travel, and to reduce the growing problem of congestion around school zones at drop off and pick up times, the Victorian Department of Infrastructure determined that School communities should be supported to implement School Travel Plans. Through the use of School Travel Plans, school communities are encouraged to promote active travel of students by accessing and working collaboratively with their local government and other key stakeholders in road safety. A School Travel Planning Guide has been developed to provide a process for developing, implementing and evaluating a whole school approach to active travel. This paper outlines why School Travel Plans are important and unpacks the process and content of the Victorian School Travel Planning Guide. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E213716.