The mayor of London has hailed the success of the Capital’s School Streets programme, after announcing there are now more than 500 in operation.
The first School Street was launched in Camden in 2017, and in 2019 there were less than 90 School Streets in London, across 20 boroughs.
By restricting car access to the street outside a school gate at drop off and pick up times, the schemes aim to make it safer, cleaner and easier for children to get to school on foot, by bike or by scooter.
The last few years has seen the number of schemes accelerate, with more 400 School Streets being introduced across the capital since the start of the pandemic – 372 funded with support from the Mayor and TfL and the rest funded by boroughs – a rate of more than three a week.
There are now 511 School Streets in London in total – at almost a quarter of primary schools – with more being installed almost every month.
Research published by City Hall, making use of the Breathe London air quality monitoring network, found that School Streets reduce nitrogen dioxide by up to 23% during the morning drop off.
A separate study carried out for TfL found that School Streets have strong support from Londoners, with 77% of parents and carers from a sample of 35 schools expressing support for the changes being kept in the long term, subject to consultation.
The mayor says many boroughs have also seen ‘huge success’ from their School Streets.
This includes Islington Council, who found that, even after taking the impact of Covid on transport into account, there was a reduction in traffic within new School Streets zones between August 2020 and July 2021 of 50% during the morning school run, and 39% during afternoon pick-up times.
The mayor adds London’s boroughs have drawn up plans for a further 80 School Streets to be delivered in the 2022/23 financial year, dependent on funding from the Government.
Sadiq Khan, said: “For London to become Net Zero by 2030, we need to reduce motor traffic by a third. The school run accounts for a quarter of morning traffic, so School Streets are a key tool in helping to drive down congestion, air pollution and road danger.
“They are making a massive difference to our Capital’s communities, with more than half of London’s 5-11 year olds now walking to school. We now have more than 500 School Streets across the Capital and we know children, parents and councils are keen to introduce even more.
“TfL has set a new target to get 60% of primary children in London walking to school by 2026.
“However, we won’t be able to fund schemes like School Streets if TfL has to enter a managed decline scenario due to lack of Government funding. That’s why it’s vital Ministers provide us with the longer-term, capital funding TfL needs so that we can continue this huge success.”