The integrated community school travel plan in action

Abstract Remit

Travel Smart/Safe is helping our people make transport choices in a way which allows future generations to enjoy liveable neighbourhoods.  It is an integrated approach that considers community and school specific needs and where theory is put into practice by -:
* Listening to communiites
* Keeping it simplistic and flexible
* Developing community and school ownership at the beginning
* Strengthening community action
* Creating supportive environements
* Supports building public policy

This programme allows communities to empower themselves and embrace positive change. Council forms strong partnerships with these communities by working alongside them, facilitating the development of simplistic, flexible templates. The key to the success of the programme has been our ability to build and maintain strong relationships with parents/caregivers, school management and senior students through the development of School Travel Plans that affect the wider community positively.

Parents, schools and students form the backbone of the partnership and make collective decisions using the community developed templates of Kids on Feet, Caterpillar Feet, Kids Can Ride. These are flexible enough to meet the different environments. The programme fosters a culture where 'valuing the volunteer is recognised and the students are encouraged to solve the problems themselves.  This creates an environment where students come up with the ideas through 'enquiry based learning'A culture where students are encouraged to solve the problems and come up with the ideas through 'inquiry based learning' , a crucial componenent of Travel Safe/Smart initiatives.  

Kids on Feet is far more than  just 'walking school buses' . It also includes walking, cycling, skateboarding, scootering, rollerblading initiatives. The volunteer base is growing rapidly as the activities are taking off.  Cycle bays in schools are filling up and schools are responding to this demand by expanding their cycle racks as well as allowing facilities for scooters, skateboards etc. Kids on Feet is driven by the parents/caregivers/community people and fully supported by Travel Smart/Safe.

Kids can Ride is a cycle safety education programme for Year 5/6 students that cultivate the 'love' of cycling. It is also inquiry based learning and is fully booked in Tauranga schools. It  has become part of the longterm plan in the curriculum in our schools. Caterpillar Feet is a pre-school programme developed by local community. It has the beginnings of pre-school travel plans. It is simplistic and flexible to meet the different pre-schools. Parents are the key to the programme alongside the kindergarten and pre-school .It plants the seed.

Feet First the NZTA intiative is a crucial part of our integrated approach to meet the needs of their area with senior students ambassadors driving the whole initiative under 'inquiry -based' learning to meet the needs of their area. These students are the creators and communicators and deserve  full credit in our schools for the different approaches.  All schools are achieving strong increase in the uptake of walking, scootering, cycling etc to and from school. This is now a full year programme that supports the Tauranga vision to help our future generations make transport choices that are healthy and sustainable." All these programmes above are underpinned by robust education, enforcement and engineering that is fed in by communities.  

Author Profile  

Karen Smith -Tauranga City Council
Angela Joyes - Tauranga City Council

Travel Smart /Safe team. There is a background in teaching, health promotion, Road Sense and a strong background in working with communities on the ground. Strong background in behavioural change in education qualifications and in the field.

Our communities hold all the qualifications to affect the change needed.