All aboard the schools walking bus scheme

By MATHEW DEARNALEY

Noah Judd is just 7, but his young legs have clocked up enough kilometres on a "walking school bus" to have carried him from Auckland to Wellington.

The Westmere School pupil in Auckland knows exactly how many trips he has made on the pedestrian bus - 641 - since his mother set it up with other parents two years ago.

He declared the number proudly and immediately after having his ticket clipped on arrival at school last Friday when Auckland Issues and Associate Transport Minister Judith Tizard was a fellow traveller.

"I go rain or shine - I like walking."

An impressed Ms Tizard, who walked the 1km bus route, was joined by more than 30 children at seven designated stops regulated by parental "conductors". She invited Noah to look her up at Parliament when next in Wellington.

Ms Tizard went along for the ride to highlight a Government decision to boost "sustainable cities" funding by $1.3 million over two years for school travel plans in Auckland.

It wants to reduce education-related car trips by at least 10 per cent in each case.

More than 50 Auckland schools have already used regional council set-up grants to establish walking buses in the past five years, promoting fitness and social interaction as well as battling traffic congestion at their gates.

They now escort almost 2000 children to and from their homes each day in safety, avoiding more than 5000 car trips a week.

Westmere's scheme has become the largest, with 210 children - 48 per cent of its roll - registered for four "waka waewae" (pedestrian buses) converging on a school where there used to be little room for cars to park or drop off youngsters.

Travel plans, of which three have been completed at schools in North Shore City and 26 more are being prepared there, are aimed at identifying obstacles to walking and cycling and recommending infrastructure improvements to remove these.

The extra funds will allow the Auckland Regional Council, as the scheme's manager, to bring up to 70 more schools into the loop.

It will then be up to local councils, with subsidies from Transfund, to pay for resulting safety recommendations such as pedestrian crossings with signals, better footpaths and cycleways, and traffic "calming" features.

The object is to reduce the 40 per cent contribution of education-related travel to morning rush hours in Auckland.

Fifty-four per cent of children are regularly driven to school, often because parents fear growing traffic volumes make it unsafe to walk or cycle.

But the regional council says car trips to school contribute to an increasingly hazardous environment for children generally, as well as encouraging obesity.

An element of bribery is involved at Westmere. Children earn small lucky dip gifts for multiple use of the walking bus, although budget limitations mean these are replaced by certificates for seasoned walkers at low risk of dropping out.

Parent co-ordinator Mary Jackson, who has two children at the school, said congestion had declined dramatically outside the school, and a real sense of community had developed among parental volunteers who include one grandparent from another suburb.

Children usually grow out of using the pedestrian buses aged about 8, preferring to stride out on their own or in smaller groups.

But Mrs Jackson said the scheme set them up to enjoy walking and to do so safely and in good company.