New GB-wide polling data commissioned by the Clean Cities Campaign shows that parents of children aged 18 and under are three times as likely to find the school run stressful as meeting their line manager at work (22% vs 7%) and almost twice as likely as commuting to work (12%)[1]. It coincides with the launch of a Europe-wide campaign to urge city leaders to create thousands of new ‘school streets’ across the continent, with a focus on newly elected councillors.
The campaign received the backing today of Will Norman, the Mayor of London’s Walking and Cycling Commissioner who said at the launch event:
“I think the election results show that once again that clean air policies, active travel policies, policies that make the city more liveable, a nicer place to be – designing our streets for people rather than necessarily for cars are a vote winner, we’ve seen this time and time again. School streets are a brilliant approach to cleaning up the air around schools making it safe on the road so kids can walk, cycle or scoot rather than take the car.”
When asked about the school run, parents would much rather walk or cycle with their children to school, with nearly six in ten (59%) saying that walking or cycling is the best way to spend quality time with their children, while only one in ten (11%) say driving is a way to spend quality time with their children. Increased safety (39%) and cleaner air (10%) are listed as the biggest potential benefits of school streets, according to the polling.
