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Travel Awareness Newsletter Issue 19
Travel Awareness Newsletter Issue 19
Issue 19 November - December 07
European Mobility Week 2007
NEWS SPECIAL
‘In Town Without My Car’ Day
Friday 21 September saw Maple Road in Surbiton closed to all traffic as residents took to the streets to celebrate ‘In Town Without My Car’ Day.
Cars, vans and lorries were replaced with sofas, live street theatre, music and fun activities for pupils at Maple Infants and St Andrew’s and St Mark’s schools. ‘Dr. Bike’ was on hand to help adjust and give advice about fixing bicycles and, once school was out, the fun continued with street performances by a Unicycle Theatre group.
Over 100m of Maple Road was kept traffic free and transformed into a green, social space with lots of comfy sofas, outdoor drinks and giant games to tie in with this year’s ‘Streets for People’ theme.
The international celebration of environmentally friendly transport enabled local people to experience what urban streets could be like without traffic, and if car journeys around town were replaced by sustainable transport such as cycling, walking and public transport.
The event was supported by Transport for London and over fifteen local councils across London.
Kingston Council used the event to promote sustainable travel to residents with information on cycle training, bike maintenance, car sharing and local public transport options.
The day kicked off early with pupils and parents from Maple Infants’ School joining up to create the school’s first ‘Walking Bus’ – an initiative to encourage children and parents to do the school run by foot. The ‘bus’ picked up pupils en route, getting children walking together safely to school without cars.
St. Andrew’s and St. Mark’s students were treated to a special outdoor Theatre-in-Education show about travelling to school safely. The play, ‘Debra Has A Plan’ was based on the book produced two years ago to promote Debra’s work in the field. Also Maple Infants’ students were treated to the first viewing of the Children Traffic Club play.
All the St Andrew’s and St Mark’s Pupils were invited to take part in interactive workshops to learn about street trees, recycling and the Eco Home and how to improve their energy efficiency.
Maple Infants’ pupils joined forces with a local mural painter and artist, Michelle Groombridge. Michelle helped younger pupils meet the challenge of ‘greening up’ a scrap car donated by Maypole Motors, decorating it with a giant wildlife mural, the car’s wheels covered with turf and plants donated by Chessington Garden Centre.
After school, many parents and children stayed out to visit the ‘Sustainable Transport Roadshow’ and explore the ‘Eco-home’ set up by Kingston’s Environmental co-ordination team along with other families in the borough.
The evening saw street performances of ‘Bottom Gear’ from freewheeling comedy duo Nick and Jebb. Alcohol-free ‘mocktail’ drinks were whizzed up by Rubicon cocktail bar to help promote the anti drink / drive message and a number of local restaurants set up tables on-street for customers to enjoy dinner al fresco.
Safer Travel at Night
Over the winter months we will all be out to celebrate with friends and family. Our Christmas message to you as a Kingston resident is to make sure to travel home safely at the end of the night.
Transport for London successfully launched their Cabwise initiative last winter to promote safer travel at night so make sure to use their text service if you are unsure of how to get home safely after a night out.
TEXT Home to 60835 to get 1 taxi and 2 local, licensed minicab numbers
Save 60835 as ‘CABWISE’ to your mobile now.
For more information or to find out about night buses in your area go to the Transport for London website.
Debra and Christmas Lights
Debra will be helping Father Christmas turn on the lights this year in Kingston, New Malden, Surbiton and Tolworth. Keep a look out for Debra and her elves during the month of November. There will be treats for all children!
Kingston Thursday 15 November 2007
Tolworth Wednesday 21 November 2007
New Malden Friday 23 November 2007
Surbiton Thursday 29 November 2007
Christmas Park and Ride
The Park and Ride service will be up and running again from Saturday 3 November 2007 until 12 January 2008. Buses leave Chessington World of Adventures at regular intervals between 07:30 – 18:30 Monday to Saturday, and 08:30 – 17:30 on Sundays, dropping passengers off in the heart of Kingston Town Centre.
Car parking is free and an adult return fare is just £1.50. Compare this with the cost of parking your car in one of the town centre’s car parks for the day, and you could afford to buy an extra stocking filler! Last year the Park & Ride service reduced the number of car journeys in and out of Kingston by around 10,000 each week. This reduced congestion and improved air quality in the town centre over the busy Xmas period.
Bike Safe / Scooter Safe
The Road Safety and Travel Awareness Unit has teamed up with Bike Safe London and Transport for London to offer the popular Bike Safe / Scooter Safe courses free of charge to residents of the Borough. After the success of two previous courses, more are scheduled for the New Year. The course is aimed at riders of all ages and abilities and has something to offer everyone, even the most experienced.
To take advantage of this offer or for more information, please call 020 8547 5865.
Walk Once a Week (WOW) Charter
Schoolchildren from over ten schools across the borough joined Kingston council’s best-loved mascot, Debra the Zebra, in a two-day ‘walking relay’ to celebrate International Walk to School Week. Starting at Fern Hill School, pupils walked with Debra to their next nearest school, Latchmere Primary, carrying a Walking Charter for every school to sign. Teacher and pupil ‘walking ambassadors’ from Fern Hill read and signed the charter, pledging their commitment to walking to school at least once a week.
Debra the Zebra was able to walk with pupils from more than ten schools in Kingston much to the delight of youngsters. ‘It was really difficult to select pupils to carry the charter – the whole school wanted to walk with Debra!’ said Nikki Noboa of Park Hill School. ‘The Walk to School campaign is something we really support.’
Once all the charters from each of the Kingston schools that took part in the event have been singed they will join other London schoolchildren to present their scrolls to the Mayor Ken Livingstone at City Hall.