by Cllr Mario Creatura
We’ve just received this email from Transport for London that residents may be interested in reading:
I’m writing to let you know that we have today announced proposals to help schoolchildren travel safely and sustainably as they return to schools in September. Plans include additional buses and dedicated school services, a range of Streetspace measures and a comprehensive communication and engagement programme. A link to the full press release is here.
We are encouraging parents, students and school staff to plan ahead, and to walk, cycle, scoot or use public transport for their journeys. While we are running a normal service on weekdays on public transport, social distancing reduces the number of people we can carry, so those who can are advised to travel during quiet off-peak times, and allow more time if travelling by bus during school travel times.
We have worked closely with schools, London’s boroughs and the Government to prepare for the significant additional demand on a public transport network where capacity is reduced owing to social distancing measures.
More than 3,000 schools have been advised on encouraging active travel, staggered start and end times and Government safe travel advice, with bespoke plans for those schools served by the busiest bus routes for school travel. A new dedicated webpage for education providers gives the latest advice and useful resources for schools to encourage safe and sustainable travel among their pupils.
We are also planning to add over 200 extra dedicated school buses onto some of the busiest low-frequency bus routes, including our existing school services, funded through an additional £5.8M grant from the Department for Education.
We will be writing to all schools and customers with details of the affected bus routes once confirmed.
Do keep your eyes peeled for more information directly from local schools.
