At Bedfordshire County Council we want every child to have the opportunity to walk, cycle and use the bus as part of everyday life but particularly for making a safe journey to and from school. In doing this we hope young people in Bedfordshire will grow up to be healthy, confident adults with the ability to make independent travel choices whilst enriching their education and improving their local environment. Developing a school travel plan is the first step in helping your school achieve this by changing travel habits and reducing dependency on the private car.

In March 2006, 101 schools in Bedfordshire have successfully developed a school travel plan that meets the DfES national standard. These schools have subsequently been awarded in excess of 565,000 in the form of capital grant payments to help support measures identified within their travel plans. A further 60 schools are currently working with our team of school travel advisors developing their plan and our aim is for all schools in Bedfordshire to have a travel plan in place and affecting change by 2010.

Bedfordshire County Council also receives finance from central government to implement safer routes to schools projects. The safer routes to schools programme aims to make physical changes to the environment around schools such as improved crossing facilities, traffic calming and the creation of school safety zones. These improvements can then be implemented as part of a school travel plan.