Greater Manchester aims to encourage more children and young people to travel to school actively and sustainably.
The city region has unveiled a draft School Travel Strategy that seeks to increase the number of primary, secondary, and further education students travelling by walking, cycling, or using public transport by 2030.
This is part of a joint initiative by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), and the 10 local authorities.
The strategy is aimed at tackling the barriers preventing youngsters from walking, cycling, or using public transport.
The draft strategy will be subjected to public consultation in November, as approved by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority on October 25.
Every day, around 460,000 pupils travel to more than 1,200 schools and further education establishments across Greater Manchester.
Around 15 per cent of all trips in Greater Manchester are for education, and during the peak periods between 8am and 9am or 3pm and 4pm, almost half of all trips are education-related.
Dame Sarah Storey, Active Travel Commissioner, said: "School travel is one of my six priorities in the Active Travel Mission.
"It is important that we build on the positive impact of school streets and broaden the scope of the work to make better use of all modes within the Bee Network for journeys to and from places of education.
"In order to enable young people and families to travel to school and further education on foot, bike, or public transport, those choices need to feel safe, easy, and accessible - and the draft School Travel Strategy sets out how we will be aiming to do this.
“A public consultation is being launched as part of this work so that we can better understand everyone's journey needs and I hope pupils, parents, teachers and support staff at all of our education establishments will feed in to this so that we can refine the plans and make it work for everyone."
As part of the draft strategy, Greater Manchester aims for 70 percent of primary school students to walk, cycle, or scoot to school by 2030, up from 63 per cent at present.
For secondary schools, the goal is for 80 percent of pupils to travel actively or use public transport, up from 74 per cent.
The target for young people going to college or further education is also 80 per cent, up from 66 per cent.
The strategy proposes a range of activities to achieve these targets.
These include creating safer streets around schools, continuing to deliver cycling infrastructure, increasing access to secure cycle storage, supporting young people to become 'travel champions', and improving the customer experience on public transport.
The draft School Travel Strategy also outlines how the Bee Network will deliver 'more reliable, accessible, and affordable bus services for children and young people.'
It proposes creating a more integrated network using Greater Manchester’s bus franchising powers and improving public transport connections for education.
Vernon Everitt, transport commissioner, said: "Supporting journeys to school is a key function of the Bee Network.
"Our draft School Travel Strategy sets out how we want to enable young people and their families to make these essential journeys safely and reliably, while making the most of the opportunities presented by the Bee Network."
The draft strategy will be subjected to a 10-week public consultation from November, as approved by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.
Mr Everitt said: "Engaging with schools, colleges, and communities will be key to the draft School Travel Strategy and we will be launching a public consultation in the coming weeks to progress with these conversations.
"Whether you’re a parent, teacher, or part of a school community, we welcome your views."
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