Our Ride & Stride pilot schools have hit the ground running (and riding) with their active travel programs!
Over Term 2 we surveyed parents, students and teachers at Coburg North Primary and Brunswick East Primary to understand how they travel to and from school, the barriers families face, and their suggestions on how to have more walking and riding on the school run.
From congestion around the school gates, concerns around children arriving safely, navigating safe and quiet routes to school, each school had a range of different factors that influence the daily decision on how to get to school.
Schools choose their programs
Despite some of these barriers, we found that the majority of children want to walk, ride or scoot to school, and parents are eager to switch their travel habits to healthier, more sustainable modes.
The Ride & Stride programs delivered over the next two terms are tailored to each school’s needs to get more children and families travelling to school the way they’d like to – healthily, happily and actively.
Kids TagOn to walking and riding
The first program that has recently launched at both schools is TagOn.
Kids’tag on’ at kiosks each morning by selecting how they travelled to school that day, earning points for their house and points for travelling actively, and importantly allowing parents to receive an instant email notification that their child has arrived safely.
The technology encourages students that are able to travel actively to switch their trips to walking or cycling, for families who live further away to park and walk the last bit, and gives all parents peace of mind that their child has arrived safely at school each morning. Families feel more confident with their children travelling independently.
Hit with the parents too!
“We usually ride twice a week but now my kids want to ride every day, even when it’s cold. It’s also good for me because it helps me know they get to school safely”
‘Today is the first time my son rode to school, and tagon influenced that decision”
‘I love the new TagOn system, it allows me to ride with my boy only a short way past a few busy streets before he does the rest solo and I go my separate way to work. Knowing he gets to school safely via the daily email is so important to me.’
We will be launching more programs over the coming weeks and months, and will keep you updated along the way!
