Mr.Aditya Kasana

The key focus has been on the sustainability and travel modes of the children and adults during the investigation. Table of Contents Introduction Destination travel plans were the start of the evolution of travel planning which mainly focused on the reduction of car Journeys to the workplace , tourist spots and schools were also considered to be particular destinations . An example can be taken from the structure of residential travel plans where Journey starts from house to the various destinations.Since travel plans has played a major role in delivering benefits to the regional and local authorities by enchanting accessibility and deducting the level of traffic has brought role of travel plans into a limelight of developing importance which can be achieved through a planning process under a national policy where travel plans can be monitored and improved (controversialists. Co. UK). ‘ School run' is one the key issues which gave rise to School Travel Plans in the wake of risi ng peak traffic congestion , security concerns and air pollution damaging the environment.If school run is eliminated through various travel policies , it can then provide opportunities to children benefit from a healthy habits achieved by cycling and walking to the school. (ghastliest. Gob. UK). In the UK , there are 1. 2 million cars are eyeing driven extra miles to cover the Journey to schools and a million extra on roads during the peak time congestion resulting in increase of carbon emissions and tones of carbon dioxide being produced.It is assumed that the school Journeys only account to a small percentage of total travel Journeys around the I-J and but has a major affect on the large scale (Birmingham. Gob. UK). Norfolk was the first one to achieve an award of being the only county with every school running a travel plan. Programmed were installed both in rural and urban parts of the region resulting in the decrease shift of 17% of car use throughout the area. Norfolk managed to achieve its goals by getting involved with around 6000 children into a habit of cycling , walking , bus use and car sharing (schools. Norfolk. Gob. UK).Literature Review Consolidating literature within the field of travel plans it was discovered that travel plans were first introduced in Government Green Paper in 1996 as part of national policy (Potter et al, 1999). Factors such as location, company cars and organizational policy are all considered when devising travel plans (Names and Sandburg, 1996; Banister and Gallant, 1999). In the sass the travel plans have been recognized significantly and this led to a increase in interest and reforms within departments such as Transport and the regions DETER , Department of the Environment (DETER , 1998 ).Regarding employer travel plans, Potter et al (1999) outlines negative traits in views and attitudes towards the travel plans and were more inclined to implement cycle facilities. However it has been noted that the cycle facility initi ative will not bring about any major change to the impacts suffered to the environment, although acknowledging the benefits in health and increase in safety levels Monoclinic and Shackle (1996). The encouragement of physical activities has been identified as essential to tackle the rise in obesity amongst children (Salmon et al 2004).Salmon et al suggest that schemes such as Walking School Bus' would assist in cultivating and changing behavioral habits and be beneficiary to health of pupils. They also indicate that active travel in no way raises any health risks and with the increase of various education programs, aimed at educating pupils on minimizing risks when taking public transport, walking and cycling. Often with regards to travel plans the focal point is placed upon the role of the employers to tackle the issue of minimizing car travel routines to work, to combat problem of peak hour congestion (Methamphetamine County Council, 1995).This is further exemplified through the ac tions of Brighton and Hove City Council assist companies by devising various travel plans to take an initiative on this influential problem. To put into perspective, travel plans are considered a priority in various countries, for example in Australia various studies have commenced measuring the correlation in the mode of travel to their schools, with a considerable rise from 25% o 89% within a 30 year period of pupils being driven to school (Consultation Planning Survey Services, 1974 and DOI 2005).Australia also takes a similar stance in educating their pupils about transport awareness by a national plan named ‘The School Travel Planning. Research conducted by Pied and Somerville Road & Transport Research (2006) suggested that within the periods in which this plan was implemented, 2007-2008, there was a decrease from 60% to 10% in Journeys to private travel to schools. This was a direct consequence as to the impetus and focus the Australian government placed on public transp ort, walking and cycling, which the search indicated substantially increased from 2007 to 2008.The United Kingdom soon followed suit, initially though the first conceptual travel plans devised by the UK government was regulated within 1997/1998. In 2010 the decision was made to further regulate travel plans with the aim to improve congestion flow around the public and private schools in the I-J. The travel plan has been proved successful. This lies in the fact that within the I-J there are more than 2000 schools which have implemented the ‘School Travel Program', making the UK a fore frontal focus on the creation and division of effective travel plans, attracting the attention of surrounding European countries.Yet with all this success has lead to large investments with a total of El 55 million spent on school travel plans between 2004 and 2009. However it is important to note that EYE million were spent on salaries of school travel advisor and about IEEE million went to the c apital investments. A particular scheme that was successful was the Walking School Bus scheme' which was installed in various schools in September 2000. By consolidating the literature within this field has provided the foundations in which to interpret the theories and notions that surround ‘School Travel Plans'.External factors that may influence school travel plans have been identified from the literature such as the demographical information, congestion, traffic flow, road works through the means of public transport, cycling and walking. Methodology Research aims – Desk research has been conducted in the project. It covers subject matter from all type of sources ranging from published articles to websites of county councils across The United Kingdom. The document of how to a write a successful plan published by Havening London Borough been taken as a base structure for the school travel plan analysis.The reason behind of this approach is to target specific areas of the research questions which are literary in nature. ProJect sets out with a broad introduction to the travel planning and its origin to understand the base of the investigation. Research questions have been arranged in an order to connect with the information as follows – Why school travel plans are important and what are the benefits ? Mainly focuses on the advantages of the school travel plans and benefits to the environment and the society.How to structure and what should be included in a School Travel Plan ? To recognize the structure and the requirement of school travel plans supported by examples from 5 different schools to understand every phase of the plan. Which travel policies under The School Travel Plan been successful in reducing congestion outside schools and promoting greater use of sustainable transport ? Two of the main travel policies has been brought into the light to examine issues related to traffic congestion. Which other countries took initiative in pr omoting school travel programmed ?Three western countries have been taken into account to acknowledge wider aspects of the school travel plans on an international level. What are relationships between school travel plans and other travel plans ? Residential and employer travel plans has been taken into consideration to examine and compare the characteristics of the School Travel Plan. Why school travel plans are important and what are the benefits? School run is the Journey parents make to and from school in order to provide transportation to their children by car.These school Journeys are significantly less compared to the total demand of transport but major effects the peak traffic flows leading in congestion and impact on the environment. In order to reduce congestion , t is required to promote walking and cycling to school within the youth which will going to enhance their social skills , independence and self confidence. This will not only going to benefit them in terms of bodi ly movement but also going to help children getting accustomed to their local environment (Birmingham. Gob. UK).According to Durham county council , it was necessary to create a travel plan by 2010 and following to that , target was achieved by 97% of schools in Durham , obtaining one million pounds to be disburse on the refinement of school Journey projects and promotion of sustainable mode of transport. Enhancement of current parking facilities and better pedestrian access points are one of the few examples of these schemes. Let is important to install school travel plans and encourage active travel through campaigns, initiatives and promotions to teach students about travel sustainability from their childhood (Durham. Ova. UK). The key victims to the school run are usually people living next to schools as they are affected by difficulties created by the drivers by parking in inappropriate places , generating pollution and risking safety of cyclists and pedestrians around the area of the school. During the peak ours , 1 out of 5 Journeys are made by drivers on the school run and usually these journeys are short with a cold engine which produces an excess amount of pollution inside a car which is calculated to be thrice the level of pollution on the pavement which can be quite harmful for children walking to the school(schools. Reform. Gob. UK). As stated by Brighton and Hove city council † A School Travel Plan ( STEP) is a document which sets out how a school will promote safer , active and sustainable travel to school , with the main emphasis being on reducing the number of children being driven to and from school† . Discussion with parents , local people, governors, teachers and students is vital in developing a good STEP and to overcome the problem changing situations , the plan should be assessed and reformed on a regular basis.A school travel plan stimulates active travel which results in reduced congestion and traffic which can be advantage ous to people living around the area of a school , school community and the entire city . School Travel Plan can be benefited by different sections of society (Brighton-hove. Gob. UK). Today's period , obesity is a major issue and it is crucial to promote physical exercise within the youth and make them ware of benefits of sustainable transport and exercise which will help them to make healthy decisions in the future and ameliorate their fitness levels.As suggested in studies , children suffering from anxiety and stress are the ones who are driven and the children likely to be more alert during the class are the ones to choose walking and cycling to the school. It is important for a school to Implement sustainable travel habits such as road safety skills and hazard awareness within the children. Advantages of not being driven to school will provide children with an opportunity to enhance their social skills by interacting with their parents and guardians along the journey and get to know more about the community.By shifting to sharing a car , cycling and walking from short car Journeys will help families to be more economical and save cash over a year or a term (schools. Norfolk. Gob. UK). Students will benefit in better fitness levels by indulging in physical activities such as cycling, scooting and walking. It will refine their knowledge about road user skills and travel awareness and enhance their perception of their surrounding.Schools will see a boost in better feet and less congestion around the campus with the implementation of schemes which will initiate safer cycling routes and walking areas and be part of policies such as Healthy and CEO-schools in of various other schools in the region(Brighton- hove. Gob. UK). For parents , it will help them develop greater connection with schools and better relationship their children with the increase in interaction time and relieve the tension of facing congestion while driving to and from the school.Local Commu nities will take advantage of reduction in noise and air pollution and enchanted road safety and walking routes(Brighton-hove. Ova. UK). Worldwide , it has clearly been recognized by transport planners around in Japan , Europe and Australia , the need of changing travel habits of an individual from private to public mode of transport . It is realizes because of negative impacts being held on social life and health due to increase in congestion in traffic , land use patterns , reduction in use of public services such as rail and buses and increase in the air ; Attaining,A. 2006). How to structure and what should be included in a School Travel Plan? According to Transport of London , the concept of School Travel Plan commonly now as Steps is to benefit the community by implementing travel plan in schools across the country. Steps contain various information and ideas to strengthen areas of transportation across the school with an aim of bringing a change to the environment and the soc iety.The key endeavourer to achieve by Steps is reduction in car Journeys to and from schools , motivating adults and young people to adapt the idea of active travel over the private transportation and to develop appreciation between school communities towards options of travel available to them . The reason Enid the existence of STEP is not only to achieve these aims of improving the flow of travel around school but also to provide benefits to the environment by reducing congestion and pollution by promoting sustainable transport . T has already been proven the advantages of including School Travel Plan in schools (Transport For London). According to Leister council , travel plans has no definite national format and each plan is considers type of developments and sites as it reveals characteristics such as unique location , accessibility and operation which are required to be carried out on that site. Aim of a travel plan is not only to cover traveler's Journey but also address peo ple commuting between residences and business premises (laics. Gob. K). Stages in development of a School Travel Plan – Characteristics of a school Step – 1 It is first required to identify in which area school specializes which means whether it is primary , secondary independent/voluntary or school for special needs . Then moving on to considering the size of the school by finding out how many students are enrolled and what are the age groups and number of staffs employed(havening. Gob. UK). Step- 2 This step would include the description about the location where the school is established .Some key information required are description of the area including a map , school entrances , local public transport links for an example bus routes and stations(havening. Gob. UK). Step- 3 It is required in this section to focus on existing policies of the school which can be for instance school trip and healthy and safety policies and how they can be link to the school travel pla n. If school is involved in promoting environmental activities and considered to be healthy can also be highlighted (havening. Gob. K). Step- 4 In this step , details of any activities in which school take part regularly and relates to the School Travel can be included for an example : Walk to School Week activities, cycle storage , student's cycle training , sustainable transport policies , walking bus and other related activities (havening. Gob. UK). An example of phase 1 can be seen in the school travel plan prepared by the Devon county for The Manor Primary school in Jan 2005 where it mentions about the characteristics of the school.First part of the step can relate to the school introduction where it mentions that it is a primary level situated in the middle of a sousing development in Bridge. It holds a capacity of 35 staff members and 300 students. As shown in their school travel plan , there are 12 car parking space and a single entrance but there is no initiative taken to p romote walking school bus, no CATV , cycle storage or cycle training plans which can relate to step 2 and 4 of the phase 1 (Devon. Gob. K) Phase-2 Issues at the School Step-I This part of step would identify issues by carrying out survey results of the entire school which should answer the following main questions : What date survey was undertaken? How many students were surveyed? How do students travel to school? Besides this , extensive surveys with pupils and parents can be included and any relevant data from the previous surveys conducted which could present progress report would be beneficial in the creating a plan. Surveys should be not be older than 12 month period (havening. Gob. UK).For instance , to get clear view of step-I , an example of Randal Cramer Primary School's survey analysis can provide a basic understanding of survey results. In their STEP, findings are shown of two different surveys being carried out with a gap of two years to monitor progress. The survey cond ucted in the year 2008 proves that the liking is a dominant method over car use and 31% of students are willing to adapt cycle travel. Survey was conducted again in 2010 where it shown a difference in the figures rising Upton 13. 3% for the walking method and a drop of 14. 91 in the use of car .These surveys included in STEP helps school to address their issues efficiently (hackney. Gob. UK). This Step addresses the problems and issues of a school in a written description which explains the need of developing a plan . This section should be separated from the survey results. Issues mainly to acknowledge can be ones identified by arenas , staff , students and from surveys. Some of the issues are such as ones related to school gate parking , barriers to sustainable transport or road Junctions which are considered to be not safe for pupils (havening. Gob. UK).Phase-3 Involvement Step- 1 This step covers evidence of everyone's involvement from individuals to groups within and outside th e school in bringing plan into action. Section must include the people who were interviewed and how their ideas and opinion were directed towards the plan . Details can be sought by mentioning about the meeting of governors/PTA here plan was discussed and about any procedure or involvement of School Council which has been conducted. Other key information to be involved are about any discussions in the classroom or assemblies and curriculum projects.This can be not very easy with students with various learning difficulties and effort should be put in getting as much opinion as possible (havening. Gob. UK). This section carries out any relevant information about letters being sent to local residents or parents or newsletters shared and displays being projected to actively persuade people to share their opinions regarding the travel plan . It should be clearly understood and noted that evidence would not consider hands up surveys on favored means of Journey (havening. Gob. UK).An examp le of this Phase-I can be vividly understood by the School Travel Plan of Hill Top First Community School for the age group of 3 to 9 years. This school majority focuses on the well being of its pupils and has involved itself with their opinions and suggestions. Here are the few examples of children and parents sharing their thoughts about the school travel :- Comments by children- â€Å"The best thing about going to school ( by car ) is listening to the radio. The worst thing is the traffic lights because I like going to school .I'd like to come to school on a bike† â€Å"The best about my Journey(walking) is I get to see lot of different things. My journey is safe but not always when I cross the road† Comments by parents- â€Å"Too many cars pull up by the school gates† † We've nearly been run over by cars reversing out of the school drive at drop off time† These are one of the few comments of the pupils studying in Hilltop school . This proves tha t the school is involving children and parents in initiating their travel plan and tackle any issues (rubs. Gob. UK). Phase-4 What are Plan's objective?This step identifies various objectives, project is intend to achieve such as reduction in number of car trips and during peak hours and promote use of public transport walking/cycling to and from school . These initiatives will result in improvement of health of people within school communities (havening. Gob. UK). To explain the criteria of this phase of a plan , Bishop's Hull Community Primary School's school travel plan can be considered as an example. By evaluating their objectives set up after carrying out survey results. They concluded that cycling needs to be safer for children and remote greater use of walking instead of use of car.Parents should be motivated to share private vehicles to avoid congestion during peak times. These ideas are held together in a their school travel plan to overcome travel issues and promote susta inable mode of transport for the well-fare of the community and children (environmentalism's. Co. UK). Phase-5 Action Plan This part of the step sets out actions required in the plan to achieve these objectives. Actions required can be described in an action plan at the stage of approval (havening. Gob. UK). This section covers about the key ingredients required to establish an action plan.