School Streets: Reducing children’s exposure to road danger

Our new report with the Active Travel Academy and Transportation Alternatives has shown that up to 65% of schools in New York City (NYC) may be suited to the introduction of a School Street (14% are likely suited and 51% may be suited), meaning there are huge gains to be made in how young people experience public space and travel to school. 

What is a School Street?

School Streets tackle road danger, air pollution, and carbon emissions by restricting traffic outside schools at pick-up and drop-off times, making it safer and easier for children to walk, scoot and cycle.

What did we do? 

This new NYC study builds on our previous research which found that at least half of all schools in English cities are suitable for a school street. We tested how feasible it would be for a School Street to be introduced by thinking about the main barriers.

Click the image above to explore our map of priority schools.

After identifying feasibility, we then prioritized the schools by:

  1. Those with a high number of vehicle crashes within 200m of the schools

  2. How close schools were to one another, and

  3. How close they were to a minor road.

The first factor counted twice as much as the second two to reflect the importance of reducing road danger.

We then put together a list of 143 schools that are high priority, and where the implementation of a School Street is likely to be highly or very feasible. 

What did we find? 

Across all 1709 schools in New York City (NYC), up to 65% of schools may be suited to the introduction of a School Street (14% are likely suited and 51% may be suited).

If all 143 schools in the priority list were to receive a School Street, just over 64,000 pupils would benefit from access to additional safe space to play and socialize, and, potentially, to access school by walking, wheeling or cycling. 

This will also bring NYC in line with the level of intervention taken recently in Paris. 

What can you do? 

Children deserve safe, healthy, and pleasant journeys to school. During school drop-off and pick-up times are when the most vulnerable road users are most concentrated in one area and so we must prioritise urgent interventions, like School Streets, to curb motor traffic to reduce road dangers and air pollution.

  • Follow our very simple flowchart to see if your school is suitable for a School Street. If it is, get in touch with your school, parent-teacher association, headteacher, and local political leaders!

  • Get people talking about School Streets! Communicating the benefits with all parts of our communities is key to its success.

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Hirra Khan Adeogun