Do you resent the time spent battling through the rush hour traffic to get your child to and from school every day? And have you noticed how the worsening conditions that seem to be a feature of the school run magically disappear during the school holidays? You are not alone in your concerns and observations.

It appears that the number of schoolchildren being ferried by car has doubled in the last twenty years with the result that one fifth of all cars on the roads between 8 and 9am is now believed to be on their way to school. Apart from the two million extra tonnes of carbon dioxide being pumped into the atmosphere and the possible connection between increased car travel and rising levels of obesity in children of school age, that is also a huge amount of parental time at the wheel. So why do we do it and is there any alternative to the troublesome school run?

The convenience of the car is an aspect of life on which we have all come to depend. For parents dropping children off on their way to work or attempting multiple school runs, it may be the only option. In the absence of any seriously viable alternatives, one of the few ways in which families motoring to school can limit the damage is by sharing runs with other households in their area. Clearly, this is not enough. The situation has now reached a crisis point and government, education authorities, schools, transport lobby groups, environmentalists and families across the nation are putting their heads together to try and develop sustainable solutions to the school transport problem. The only real disincentive to car use will be viable alternatives.

Visit the Department of Transport website to view their School Transport Action Plan and Good Practice Guide. Sustrans, the sustainable transport charity, is also committed to creating Safe Routes to Schools.

School buses, perhaps the most obvious answer to the conundrum given the distances that many have to cover, currently take only six per cent of the nation’s children to and from school. This surprisingly low figure may be due to the fact that buses are perceived to be neither particularly safe nor particularly convenient. There is also the cost factor -  a relatively small proportion of schoolchildren qualify for free travel, and  not necessarily those most in need. In the U.S., Yellow School Buses transport fifty per cent of all children living over a mile from school free of charge and are believed to be the safest and most reliable means of home-to-school travel while offering many other social and environmental benefits into the bargain.

Six pilot schemes using the American-style yellow bus have recently been trialled in different Local Education Authorities around the country with very encouraging results, as this summary from the Department of Transport shows. In order to really work, school buses must be able to cater for the second wave of children emerging from after-school activities at a later time. Theoretically, they could also be scheduled to deliver primary and secondary school children at different times and so stagger the start to the school day, a revolution that would be welcomed by all motorists.

A brisk walk or cycle ride at either end of the school day is a great way of keeping fit as well as reducing traffic congestion and pollution and there are many other initiatives in the pipeline designed to get families out of their cars and onto their bikes and the pavements. ‘Walking buses’ and ‘cycle trains’ work on the ‘crocodile’ principle with one adult leading from the front and another bringing up the rear. Routes can be designed for the convenience of families involved with regular ‘stops’ along the way. The Walk To School and Walking Bus websites offer advice and information for parents, teachers and children interested in setting up a ‘bus’ in their community. The National Cycle Strategy website looks at the many arguments in favour of Cycling to School and offers other useful information about this mode of home-to-school transport.

Of course, these schemes can only succeed if they are properly thought out and supported at every level. It’s very unlikely that parents will encourage their offspring to cycle to school unless there are safe, designated cycle routes for them to follow and somewhere secure for their bikes to be left and helmets to be stowed away during the school day. Schools can help further by providing cycle and road safety training for their pupils and exploring related topics as part of the curriculum. Safer Routes to School publishes free fact sheets that you can download on all the key issues. Equally, some sort of shelter from wind and rain would be an inducement to parents and carers dropping off and collecting on foot.  

Meanwhile, if you want to do your bit behind the scenes, order up a of ‘Road Code’, a child-friendly introduction to the highway code, from The Stationery Office ) or your local newsagent or bookshop. You can also ensure that children remain safe on dark mornings and afternoons by kitting them out with high visibility clothing and accessories available online from Safekidswalking.  Find out more about the initiatives in your area from International Walk to School Week.