My review for the last edition of "London Cyclist" of the Westminster University
report on "the school run" shows that the process is more complicated than one
might realise:
"THE FAMILY AND THE SCHOOL RUN": RESEARCH COMMISSIONED BY THE AA FOUNDATION FOR
ROAD SAFETY RESEARCH - JUNE 2000

"The Family and the School Run" is a report by Peter Jones and Ruth Bradshaw of
the Transport Studies Group at the University of Westminster
(www.wmin.ac.uk/courses/transport/researchtran.htm) that appeared in mid-June
commissioned by the AA Foundation for Road Safety Research (reports are
available from the Foundation for £20 and free summaries can be obtained by
phoning 01256 491925)

It is common knowledge that car journeys taking children to and from school
have increased in the last 30 years. Where in the 70s the majority of children
walked or cycled, most now go by car adding to rush hour congestion and
pollution, making other drivers long for the school holidays, and in the opinion
of many, including children, preventing them making their way to school on their
own or in groups.

By including the school run in their 1998 report on transport the Government
was seeking to focus policy attention on an identifiable group of people who
might be persuaded to change their travel habits and in the process reduce road
congestion, improve health and independence and by getting more people - parents
and children - out on the streets enhance community safety. The same process of
individualising the issue to parents - usually "mums" - gave some other drivers
an identifiable group to blame for congestion.

Jones and Bradshaw, while admitting to having to iron out a host of local
variations, confirm that the school run increases peak hour motoring traffic by
around 20%. Thereafter the picture clouds. Among the school run drivers
"contributing" to congestion, only just over ½ are specifically travelling to
and from school. For the rest their journey is part of a longer car journey that
was going to be made anyway. Another thing - it's not just those "mums". The
school run is done by a lot more men than might be expected, and the majority of
them - men and women - would prefer not to do it. They are motivated by anxiety
about the risks to their children from traffic, bullying on the way to school
and strangers. If they could, they would have found a school closer to home, but
parental choice has led to larger catchments and longer journeys not covered by
public transport.

The newest insight from this research - emphasised by the AA in a press release
on June 15 - adds to the intractability of the problem. While their findings
confirm the reality of widely perceived lessening of motorised traffic volume
outside school terms, Jones and Bradshaw found that most of the reduction comes
as a result of drivers who are parents - whether involved in doing the school
run or not - spending more time at home during the school holidays. So while
there is room for reducing the congestion, pollution and hazard caused by cars
in the vicinity of schools, there is less room for reducing congestion by
cutting out the school run. The widely recognised variations in traffic volumes
are as much affected by the behaviour of all parents as they are by those who do
the school run.

In addition there is that other portion of the 20% of motorists who, whether
they passed by the school or not, would still be out on the roads going to and
from work. A final problem is that if you did reduce peak traffic volume its
benefits would be uncertain because the slightly clearer roads would attract
people who would not normally drive at those times. This confirms the
understanding that motor-born road traffic resembles gas which fills up all the
available space rather than water which will circulate better in larger
straighter pipes.

We live in congested times surrounded by proposals that target particular
groups of motorists in order to make life easier for the rest. This research -
regardless of the AA Foundation for Road Safety recommending among other things
the replacement of the car-born school run with buses - confirms the view that
only marginal improvement to the current traffic congestion crisis can be
achieved by targeting the school run. It could of course make life a lot better
in the immediate vicinity of schools and even delay socialising another
generation into auto-dependence. But as the researchers show attitudes are
crucial here and some kids in some places are willing collaborators in the
grid-lock around their school gates. Others however are saying that they would
far prefer to cycle or walk to school if their parents and the school would
allow it.

Simon Baddeley
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT
UK
00 44 121 554 9794
07775 655842 mobile
Campus 00 44 121 414 4999 Fay Wilson
<F.E.WILSON@...>
Fax 00 44 121 240 4238




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