Walking Buses
A Walking Bus is a safe, fun and healthy way to travel to and from school. It comprises parent volunteers and teachers who act as ‘drivers’ and ‘conductors’, and up to 16 school children, who are passengers on the ‘bus’. The pupils are escorted to school along a set route, picking up more passengers at ‘bus stops’ along the way.
Children and parents on each walking bus wear high visibility tabards, which are sponsored by Sainsbury's and Marks and Spencer’s of Kingston.
Paddy Monk, Headteacher of St Agatha’s (where the borough’s first Walking Bus started) said, ‘A few years ago we drew up a School Travel Plan to encourage staff and pupils to travel to school in an environmentally sound way. We have long been a supporter of the Council's Walking to School campaign, and this new initiative shows that with a little organisation, walking can be an option for many who would otherwise be driven to school.’
James Parker, the Council's Road Safety Officer, says, ‘The Walking Bus provides an ideal opportunity for regular daily exercise for all involved. The Council is keen to see the introduction of several bus routes in the Royal Borough to help to cut car journeys to school, reduce congestion and air pollution, and improve road safety at the school gate.’
Walking Buses are well established in Kingston, with the borough’s schoolchildren even setting a previous world record for the longest Walking Bus in 2003.
There are currently 10 routes to help children stay active and get to school safely, as follows:
- Alexandra and St Pauls 1
- Alexandra and St Pauls 2
- Christ School
- Coombe Hill
- Green Lane
- Latchmere Infant / Junior Tudor Drive
- Latchmere Infant / Junior Gibbon Road
- Malden Parochial
- St Agatha’s Kings Road
- St Agatha’s Tudor Drive
Several other schools have buses due to commence in the near future. The scheme depends on the excellent efforts of volunteers, often parents of children at schools along a route.
For more information about existing Walking Buses or about setting up a new Walking Bus, call the Road Safety and Travel Awareness Unit on 020 8547 5865 or email travel.awareness@rbk.kingston.gov.uk
Related Documents:
Get help accessing files or request files in alternative formats- Walking Bus leaflet (PDF) for further information on lobbying for, setting up and operating a Walking Bus.