Good things happen when school communities active travel. Empowered children travel safely to and from school, help the environment, feel part of a community and have fun.
What is Active School Travel?
Active School Travel (AST) is a free program run by the City of Gold Coast for Gold Coast primary schools.
Official Active Travel Schools receive a suite of free toolkits, incentives and support to enable students, parents, carers and teachers to:
- RE-MODE swap the car for walking, wheeling and public transport
- REDUCE car trips by carpooling or combining trips
- RE-ROUTE take a slightly different route to avoid congested roads
- RE-TIME school-related trips - consider dropping children earlier or picking them up later
There are many ways to active school travel
When children engage in the four main modes of active travel at an early age and then continue to reinforce the skills they learn throughout their schooling, it has a major effect on their attitudes and behaviours for the rest of their lives.
Parents and carers play a critical role in influencing children's positive road behaviour when engaging in active school travel.
The following modes count as active school travel:
- Walking Leave the car at home and walk to school, if you live too far away, drive part of the way and walk the rest. We call that 'park and stride'
- Wheeling Riding a bike with your children helps them get to school quickly, be active and develop lifelong riding skills. It's fun and fast to scooter or skateboard to school. Just like when riding a bike, stick to the footpath and wear a helmet
- Carpooling If you have to drive, try carpooling with another family to help reduce the number of cars at the school gate
- Catching public transport Travelling on public transport can give older children a sense of independence and free parents from daily school trips
Benefits of Active School Travel
Since the program's inception, thousands of families have been walking and wheeling their way to school, having fun, making friends, and helping the environment. Our active travel communities enjoy:
- healthier children
- safer school zones
- increased concentration in students
- making friends (students and parents)
- learning life-long skills
- a connected community
- resources and skills to empower the community
- reduced traffic around school
- helping the environment
Active travel is the best way to get to and from school on the Gold Coast. When school communities actively travel, children feel empowered, there is less traffic on our roads and less pollution in our environment.
Active School Travel Competition Winner 2014