There are now more than 500 School Streets across London, mayor Sadiq Khan has announced, and walking is now the main way 58% of children aged 5-11 in London get to school.
School Streets restrict car access to the street outside a school gate to cars at drop off and pick up times.
The first scheme was launched in Camden in 2017, and in 2019 there were fewer than 90 School Streets in London, across 20 boroughs.
However, more than 400 School Streets were introduced across the capital since the start of the pandemic, with 372 funded through 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.
I'm proud to say that we now have more than 500 School Streets in London.
— Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan (@MayorofLondon) March 10, 2022
School Streets restrict access to cars during the school run, encouraging more active travel & less air pollution.
At Gayhurst School, which I visited today, 92% of trips made to school are now by??or ?? pic.twitter.com/SoYJOxCyw2
Mr 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.’
City Hall said research based on the Breathe London air quality monitoring network, found that School Streets reduce nitrogen dioxide by up to 23% during morning drop off.
A separate study carried out for Transport for London (TfL) showed 77% of parents and carers, from a sample of 35 schools, expressed support for the changes being kept in the long-term, subject to consultation.
The mayor’s office said that having exceeded the target set in its 2018 Walking Action Plan to increase the proportion of walking trips made to primary schools to 57% by 2024, TfL is now setting a new stretch target of 60% of primary children walking to school by 2026.
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.
