School travel plans anniversary celebrated at Richmond Rd School

Auckland City Council and ARTA this week launched the Richmond Rd School travel plan to coincide with the sixth anniversary of school travel planning in the Auckland City area.

On Wednesday, Mayor John Banks joined children and guests at the launch of the travel plan for the Richmond Rd School, which is the 70th school in the Auckland City area to benefit from travel planning.

“The safety benefits of initiatives like the school travel plan programme have been proven beyond doubt,” says Mayor Banks.

“Children are our most precious resource and the latest evidence shows that travel plans have greatly improved safety for children travelling to and from school.”

“The number of Auckland children hit by cars and then hospitalised has drastically reduced. In both 2007 and 2008, eight children were hospitalised after being hit by vehicles, compared to a yearly average of 24 from 2000 to 2003.

In Auckland City between 2005 and 2008, pedestrian and cyclist injury crashes for 5 to 13 year olds fell by 48% at the 10 schools evaluated in Auckland City.

Council’s road safety spokesperson, Councillor John Lister, says it is heartening to see the children embrace the new travel plan concepts like the walking school buses.

“School travel planning offers a virtual toolkit of potential improvements, like the 40km/hr speed zones, walking school buses, and infrastructure upgrades. These are custom fitted for each school’s situation, due to the successful collaborative approach between the council, ARTA, and the schools themselves.

Avondale Primary was the first Auckland City school to have a travel plan six years ago, and children from that school’s kapa haka group were at the Richmond Rd School launch.

As part of the launch, children and guests walked up Richmond Rd from St Pauls College to the primary school. The new 40km school speed signs were also activated.

ENDS

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