What Is Active Transport?

Active Transport can be defined as: physical activity undertaken as a means of transport. It can include walking, cycling, using a scooter, skateboard, rollerskates or rollerblades.  Choosing active transport has many benefits for students, the wider community, and the environment.

More Active Children

Active Transport is an effective way to introduce children to physical activity.  It is proven that if children have a positive introduction to physical activity at a young age, they are more likely to lead healthy active lifestyles throughout their lives.

Results from the most recent Ministry of Transport household travel survey show the proportion of primary school children walking to school has dropped significantly.  The proportion of students being driven to school has increased steadily from 31% in 1990 to 45% in 1998 and now up to 56% in 2008 (NZTA, 2009).  In some schools nearly 90% of students are driven (NZTA, 2009).

Benefits Of Active Transport

• Improve health and fitness
• Less traffic congestion at schools
• Increase learning about road safety
• Reduce pollution
• Save money on petrol
• Encourages a sense of community
• Fun
• Keeps children alert and ready for school

Walk To School Maps

Walk to School Maps are made in conjunction with the schools, Sport Otago, DCC and Police Education Officers as a child-friendly resource for schools to promote Active Transport.  They are proving to be extremely popular as they don't require volunteers or a great amount of time or resources to run the initiative.  Maps highlight safe drop-off and pick-up points, safe walking routes and any hazards to avoid.  They can be further utilised to highlight parking around the school area, crossings, bus stops, parks and gardens.  The maps can be tailored to meet the individual needs of the school and can be incorporated into a learning activity for students.  The maps can be utilised around the school, sent out into the community/to families and used in new entrant-packs to keep sustaining the initiative and keeping it at the forefront of people's minds.

• Click here to see an example of a Walk To School Map.

Walk On Wednesdays / Walk Once A Week (WOW)

'WOW' is a simple and flexible scheme which can greatly reduce the number of children being driven to school and increase the number choosing active transport as a sustainable and effective mode of transportation.  Interest is growing significantly with this initiative, as it is advantageous for schools to implement such a programme that does not require a great amount of time or resources to administer.  For most schools, this is the level of involvement that schools are willing to commit to, therefore such initiatives which require a large amount of physical and human resources are less desired by schools.  The WOW initiative is extremely beneficial for schools as they can include inter-class competitions, which adds more incentive for children to get active and further promotes active transport into the community.

Classroom Challenge Boards

These boards are designed to create some friendly competition between classrooms, and to further encourage and promote active transport to schools. With the added incentive of challenging other classes in the school, it spurs on the children to be active and contribute to their classes tally.

• Click here to see an example of a Classroom Challenge Board.

Walking School Bus

A Walking School Bus (WSB) is a group of children walking to school escorted by an adult volunteer ‘Bus Driver’.  The ‘Bus’ walks along a fixed route that has been checked by the Police for safety, and picks children up at ‘Bus Stops’ along the way.  Both children and adults get a chance to meet and socialise with others from their local community, make new friends, and enjoy the benefits that regular, moderate exercise provides.  The route can be flexible to incorporate and suit the needs of the families using it.  The 'Bus' can run as often as it likes to best suit the school and the volunteers running it.

Walk 'n' Wheel Week

Walk 'n' Wheel to School Week is an initiative designed by Sport Otago and the Dunedin City Council to promote and encourage active transport to school and is offered to all Dunedin primary schools.  Students are encouraged to Walk or Wheel, (cycle, skate, or scoot), to school.  The initiative takes place on the first week of March with resources and prizes being provided to schools to effectively run the event.  A Walk n Wheel Day is held on the Wednesday of the week, whereby schools can utilise the day to have a fancy dress, have a breakfast, have a fancy feet day or use it as a fundraiser. It is used to 'kick-off' the year for active transport and keep the students aware of the importance of using active transport.