Creating safe routes to the school gates

Peter McLean leads an early morning active travel count at Bligh Park Public School, and assesses the cycling facilities (Images: Bicycle NSW) 

Bicycle NSW is proud to have worked with a number of individuals and organisations, including council staff, Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District, South Western Sydney Local Health District, the NSW Department of Education Road Safety Education team, and School Infrastructure NSW.

We are confident that the project’s findings will be extremely valuable for communicating with local and state governments, and helping schools progress their ambitions to improve active travel.  

We’d like to extend our thanks to the six schools involved in the project: Rosemeadow Public School, Bligh Park Public School, Oran Park Public School, Katoomba Public School, Edmondson Park Public School and Douglas Park Public School.

Background to the project

Since it was founded in 1976, Bicycle NSW has engaged with local councils to offer advice about best practice for active travel to and from schools. When Western Sydney Health Alliance (WHSA) asked for ideas for a project to support local active transport in the car-dependent suburbs of Western Sydney, Bicycle NSW suggested tailored School Active Travel Plans. These would include co-designed solutions for enhancing walking and cycling infrastructure, improving safety, and building confidence among students and parents.

CEO Peter McLean described how the proposal aimed to “instill a culture of active travel and celebrate all the students, parents and carers who are champions of getting to school safely.”

“This was the winning idea,” said Peter. “It was a fantastic opportunity to build on many years of learning and translate our knowledge into a scalable process that could reach many more schools.”

Obstacles to active travel to school

There has been very compelling research to suggest that kids’ behavioural patterns of mobility have a strong influence on their perceptions of a city. Independent travel, on foot or by bike, helps them develop ‘lived citizenship’, gain independence, and feel a responsibility to their surroundings.

Active transport for school trips is great for mental and physical health. It reduces congestion and emissions. Families save time and money. And of course, it is fun. Children love getting around by walking, scooting and riding. Especially with their friends.

But it isn’t always simple. These are several factors to consider, and possible barriers, in encouraging more kids to walk and ride to school.

1. Road danger - what is the infrastructure like in the area? The lack of safe and accessible routes means that, even with the best intentions, it is natural that alternative transport methods to walking and cycling are used. 
2. Proximity - what sort of distance do families live from the school? It is possible that in suburban areas with low density, the number of kilometres are beyond the capability of a young child.
3. Parent participation - how active are they already and what sort of role do they play in their kid’s activity? Parents themselves might be facing other barriers (time, health, confidence) that they need to overcome first.
4. Social structures - what sort of support is provided by the local community? If few people walk and ride for everyday trips, it is difficult to perceive active transport as a choice. 

Developing the Active Travel Plans

The first step was to collect baseline data:

• Conversations with staff, students and parents at community consultation events, ‘walkshops’ and parent & citizen meetings explored existing travel behaviours, safety concerns, and barriers to walking or cycling.

This map of the area around Douglas Park was marked up during discussions with the community. The orange dots indicate places which feel unsafe. Extra qualitative information was recorded on Post It notes (Image: WSHA)

• Manual active travel counts at the school gates were used to understand existing travel patterns. At most schools, less than a third of students walked, rode or scooted to school. This varied from 13% in Douglas Park to 38% in Rosemeadow. 

The results of a school travel survey on 6 August 2025 at Douglas Park Public School. Only 13% of kids arrived at school via walking or riding. An unusually high portion caught the bus (Image: Bicycle NSW)

These findings were supported by three sets of spatial mapping:

• A team from the University of New South Wales used Footpath.AI to collect detailed information on existing footpaths and identify issues. 
• Local Health Districts staff trialled the new How Healthy Is My Street? tool from Healthy Streets to assess the street environment by answering 20 multiple-choice questions. The findings were compiled in a separate report.
• Confidential enrolment data was provided by the Department of Education and used to create ‘heat maps’ to show where students live.

The survey results, qualitative feedback from parents and teachers, and spatial data helped shape the next steps:

• Safe walking and riding route maps were developed for each school. The routes were selected to benefit as many families as possible, and take advantage of existing crossings and footpaths. Step-by-step route descriptions provide detailed safety tips 

The safe active transport routes map for Oran Park Public School. Each council used its own graphics to align with other council mapping resources (Image: Camden Council)

• Action plans were drawn up with recommendations for short-, medium- and longer-term infrastructure upgrades. The proposed projects range from major infrastructure changes like raised crossings and modal filters that will require state government funding, to impactful low-cost interventions like ‘school streets’ and lower speed limits,  to ‘quick wins’ such as cutting back vegetation, adding signage and removing debris from paths.
• A rich set of resources for schools to use to promote walking and cycling was compiled for the Active travel toolkit. This includes guides to road safety, ideas for classroom activities, information on active travel events, and templates for parent communications.

Early successes

The collaborative work to gather evidence and data at the outset of the project has ensured that the final recommendations for safe routes and infrastructure upgrades reflect the real experiences and priorities of the school community.

The fact that a number of recommended changes have already been implemented by councils - including footpath maintenance and bus stop improvements - is testament to the project’s value. 

School active travel planning continues

Bicycle NSW has now applied for a grant for further funding to support these six schools with wayfinding, mapping, and other incentives to embed active transport to and from their schools.

We have also been investigating ways to improve the scalability of the school active travel planning process, such as hybrid artificial intelligence models which could undertake much of the preliminary work while allowing the human resources to focus on enhanced engagement and education. 

How you can get involved

At Bicycle NSW, we are committed to helping families and children embrace the joy of cycling by addressing the barriers to riding to school.

Here are some ways to make a difference:

• Encourage your kids to walk or ride to school. Check out some handy safety tips.
• Support Bicycle NSW’s advocacy by becoming a Member. We work very hard every day to make NSW better for bike riding and walking. 
• Consider participating in the Student Bicycle Education Program. If your council isn't already participating then we can ask them to get involved. 
• Speak to your local council about gaps in the walking and cycling paths near your school.