• Make it safer and easier for everyone to walk and cycle to school
• Improve air quality at and around the school
• Reduce congestion
• Create a more pleasant environment for everyone

In Barking and Dagenham, vehicles driving to schools make up 24% of morning rush hour traffic and TfL research suggests the school run adds 254,000 cars to London roads every day – that’s more than the entire population of Southampton!

Air pollution can be five times higher during the school run than at other times of day, and it has been linked to asthma, heart disease and poor lung development, where children and the elderly are most affected.

Collisions, speeding, inconsiderate or unlawful parking, and idling are well-known issues near schools. In England, around 16 children are killed or seriously injured every week during the school run hours of 8-9am and 3-7pm.

School Streets help to transform the congested, hectic, and polluted school roads into safer, cleaner and more pleasant environments. More than 500 School Streets are currently in operation across London, and a 2021 report found that:

• Reduce air pollution at the school gates by 23%
• Tackle congestion by both reducing traffic outside the school gates and reducing it overall
• Make the school run feel safer
• Enjoy high levels of support once implemented.