New travel resource aims to ‘unwrap’ cotton wool kids

Encouraging independence, tackling child obesity, cleaning up the air and reducing congestion are all aims of a new TravelWise resource coming to North Shore City schools.

The ‘5 smarter ways to get to your school’ booklet sets out five simple ways parents and caregivers can decrease the use of their cars to taxi children to school.

In the past 20 years, there has been a significant decline in the number of children using active transport (e.g walking and biking) to get to school, and in New Zealand more than half of all five to 14 year olds are being driven by car.

This has a resounding knock on effect with corresponding increases in overweight and obese children, loss of child independence and self esteem.

North Shore City Council’s TravelWise Coordinator, Jamie Adkins, says 40 percent of Auckland’s peak hour traffic is school related and that reducing this could see a significant number of fitter, healthier and happier school children.

“The transport alternatives we’re promoting: walking school buses, walking, biking, car pooling, and catching the bus, are simple, but are often overlooked because of safety concerns,” says Mr Adkins.

“So the booklet has a strong safety focus while also promoting the other benefits of traveling smarter like making new friends, getting more exercise, saving money, and avoiding traffic jams,” he says.

“As I see it, the more opportunities our children get to learn how get to school independently, the more road savvy they become; and the fewer cars on the road, the safer our roads become. Using the car less is a win: win,” Mr Adkins says.

‘5 smarter ways to get to your school’ is being distributed via North Shore primary schools and will reach 16,000 families Additional copies can be requested via the school or by calling council’s Actionline on 486 8600.

ENDS

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